





<•- , •■-■ 



\ 






a- -** 










,* 



'■•%/: 



£ «>* ". 



%* 



/«^^^v;^:\/^ 






vv 



^ 



•£ 



■0* .- 






-^..•V ^'„ ,-b 






Va 



.: ;:.' 



\p<v 



A G v \2 ' o . T " a. 



V,** 


















°"' 



tPK- 















** y 



* rk' 









** 



^ „ „ - 



• .: 



:-■•. 






A V Q „ ( . V I ' « 



|i ^ 



c/ 






•> 



X 



: 



** ** 











■\, 



,40, 









^ ^ 



<"0 

5 ,J \ 






nV 









SHINKAH 

THE OSAGE INDIAN 



By S. ffi BARRETT 

Author of 

'GERONIMO'S STORY OF HIS LIFE' 

"MOCCO, AX rNDIAN BOY" 

■HOISTAH, AN INDIAN GIRL" 



oklahoma city 

Harlow Publishing Co. 

1916 



Copyright 1916 
By HARLOW PUBLISHING CO. 



(816 



MAR -3 1916 



PREFACE. 

The author was born among the western Indians 
and has lived for many years in close proximity to va- 
rious tribes. He has observed much in their private 
life that is interesting and exemplary. In this volume 
he has tried to recite some Indian lore that is in itself 
a real contribution to literature and to indicate the na- 
ture of the sociology of the Osage Indians. 

To a casual reader it might seem that Shinkah as 
a boy is too free from such mischievous activities as 
are characteristics of boy life in our own homes. It 
should be remembered, however, that in this primitive 
society there were not many artificial barriers against 
which the activities of the youthful aborigine would 
rebel. Group conformity would therefore be the nat- 
ural order for an Indian boy placed in such environ- 
ments. 

If this book contributes to the perpetuity of valu- 
able Indian lore and to a better understanding of the 
sociology of this tribe, its mission will have been ful- 
filled. 

S. M. Barrett. 
Claremore, Oklahoma. 

February, 1915. 



CHAPTER ONE. 

THE OSAGE RIVER CAMP. 

From its head waters, in Osage County, 
Kansas, the Osage River flows in an easterly 
direction to central Missouri; there it enters 
the great Missouri River and thence its waters 
find their way into the Mississippi River and on 
into the Gulf of Mexico. In its lower course, 
near the central part of Missouri, the Osage 
River forms the crooked boundary line between 
two counties, Cole and Osage. 

In one of the numerous bends of the river 
between Cole and Osage counties, on the south 
side of the stream and therefore in Osage 
County, a band of Osage Indians made their 
winter camp late one autumn more than a cen- 
tury ago. They were accustomed to spending 
the winter in this place and therefore called it 
their winter home. 

Around the camp grounds, west, north and 
east, flowed the Osage River, and on the south a 
rugged bluff arose as a barrier against those 
who might seek to invade the valley from that 
direction. The space thus enclosed by the river 



2 Shinkah 

and the bluffs was overgrown with dense woods. 
In the central portion of this valley was an open 
glade in which the tepees of buffalo hides were 
erected. All about the camp were fallen trees 
so that dried wood was convenient and abun- 
dant. 

Thus this band of Osage Indians placed 
their camp so that the dense forest protected the 
tepees from the north winds of winter, the wind- 
ing river and the rugged bluff served to protect 
the camp from molestation and added to the 
seclusion of this primitive abode. 

Within a few days after their arrival at this 
place the whole camp was set in order and the 
regular routine of life began here where the 
Indians had frequently spent the winter in years 
gone by. 

Soon after these Indians camped in this 
pleasant valley early winter with its bleak winds 
and killing frosts came. Then it was that the 
hickory and pecan trees in the groves cast their 
brown nuts upon the ground; on the upland 
above the cliffs lay bushels and bushels of wal- 
nuts under the trees where the wind had shaken 
them down after a still clear night when Jack 
Frost had played all night in the tree tops ; along 
the bluff, clusters of black haws hung ready to 



The Osage River Camp 3 

be picked and eaten ; here and there persimmon 
trees were standing bravely beneath their weight 
of ripened fruit; by the river's bank the paw- 
paw bushes had for a long time held up their 
broad leaves to protect and conceal their fruit, 
but the frosts caused the leaves to turn golden 
and then brown and the ruthless north wind 
blew them down, so that the ripe fruit hung 
from low boughs, an inviting sign that the In- 
dians could easily read; scattered through all 
the forest were trees garlanded with grape vines 
whose purple fruit shone temptingly against a 
background of leaves of red and gold, and when 
the leaves had blown away, there in the winter 
sunshine hung the grapes waiting to be gath- 
ered. 

Every day the Indian women and children 
gathered nuts and stored them away for winter 
use. Whenever they wished they ate of the 
plenteous mellow paw-paws and the luscious 
purple grapes. When meat was wanted the 
hunters killed game. In this manner, nestled 
in seclusion and comfort, dwelling in the midst 
of plenty, the Osages lived in peace. 

By and by, the deep snows came and man- 
tled the camp in white. Then one stormy night 
a tiny babe was born in one of these tepees. For 



4 Shinkah 

want of the real name of the babe we shall call 
it child, or in the Osage Indian language, 
SHINKAH. 

All winter the child stayed in the tepee. 
Usually it was tied to a board, which was the 
only cradle provided by the Osages for their 
babes. Outside the tepee the snow lay upon the 
ground or drifted about in the cold gusts of 
wind. But when springtime came, Shinkah 
(child) was placed outside the tepee where the 
other children played. When the sun shone 
warm and bright the babe "cooed" and smiled, 
and when the children at play laughed loudly in 
their glee, he too laughed. So in that quiet val- 
ley spring passed into summer. 

One morning in early summer, these In- 
dians left the camp. All day long the camp 
remained quiet. The low murmur of the gently 
flowing Osage River, the occasional songs of 
wild birds, and the much less frequent sounds 
of his mother's voice were all that the babe 
heard. In his childish way, he dimly wondered 
what was wrong. He had been accustomed, day 
by day, to watch the other children playing. 
Frequently he had cooed his approval of their 
frolicsome games and merry laughter on other 
days, but upon this day he could not find them 



The Osage River Camp 




OSAGE BABY IN OSAGE CRADLE 
(Modern) 



6 Shinkah 

with his bright searching eyes, and he was 
lonely. 

Shinkah had seen no children nor had he 
heard any laughter, for the very good reason 
that on this particular day no children were 
playing in the camp. All of the band of Indians, 
save Shinkah, who was only a tiny babe, his 
mother, who was not well enough to undertake 
the journey, and his great-grandmother, who 
was an invalid, had gone to another Osage In- 
dian village to visit kindred and friends. The 
camp which they were to visit was in the 
Ozark Mountains, about fifty miles distant from 
their own camp. 

Because it was impossible for them to go 
with the others these three Indians of three dis- 
tinct generations were left alone in the camp on 
the banks of the Osage River in what is now 
Osage County, Missouri. Under such circum- 
stances of course the camp was unusually quiet, 
but Shinkah was too young to understand the 
cause. 

Shinkah's mother had bound him securely 
in his Indian cradle and propped the cradle up 
among the branches of a fallen tree in the shade 
of a mighty century-old elm that stood by her 
tepee of buffalo hides. Near the cradle, and 



The Osage River Camp 7 

under the shade of the same old elm tree, the 
mother placed for herself a buffalo robe. Lying 
upon this robe she could watch her babe, and 
at the same time have some oversight of her 
grandmother, whose tepee was on the opposite 
side of the open glade. As the babe cooed to 
himself the sick mother rested in the cool shade, 
and the aged grandmother sat in her lone tepee 
gently swaying her emaciated body to and fro 
with the regularity of a pendulum while she 
mumbled in scarcely audible tones the achieve- 
ments of her ancestors as well as the legends 
and traditions of her tribe. Her sightless eyes 
seemed to look into the remote past and the dis- 
tant future as a recompense for their inability 
to behold the beauties of the fatherland of the 
Osages. 

At noon-time the mother arose from her 
sick-bed, and took some water and food to her 
grandmother. Returning, the mother gave Shin- 
kah a piece of fat venison for his lunch and 
wearily reclined upon her buffalo robe again. 
The babe began at once to suck the substance 
from the fat meat and to swallow whatever por- 
tions of it he could detach without the aid of 
teeth. The child, however, soon greased his 
whole face and part of the cradle in fruitless 



8 Shinkah 

efforts to return the meat to his mouth when- 
ever he in his eagerness jerked it away. Finally 
in his awkwardness and eagerness he dropped 
the meat and a hungry dog took it. He did not 
worry on account of his appearance, but he 
"scolded" several times when the meat was lost. 
As his mother was asleep and no one else was 
near enough to say anything to him, he soon for- 
got his troubles. 

Near Shinkah's cradle stood a sturdy red- 
bud tree whose abundant blossoms pleased the 
child very much, and to this little tree and its 
bright appearance the child turned his atten- 
tion. Before he had wearied of this pretty thing 
a red bird alighted on the topmost bough of a 
cedar tree nearby, and sang his sweetest song. 
Shinkah seemed to understand and appreciate 
the singing, too, for he interrupted the song in 
a very unsuccessful effort to imitate the singer. 
Only for a moment, however, did the song cease 
on account of the interruption, and then to show 
that he was not vexed, Mr. Red Bird began 
again, and sang such a joyful song that his 
mate came to him. Presently ,the pair flew 
across the river, and from the top of the tall 
sycamore tree, sang again. But they were so 
far away that Shinkah lost interest in them. 



The Osage River Camp 



Indeed, he lost interest in everything, for grad 
ually his little eyes closed and he slept p« 
fully. 

In the stillness of noon-time, the low mur- 
mur of the I i 
River again ros e 
drowsily. Ever and 
anon from the 
tops along the river 
ban k came 1 h e 
songs of bird.-, 
der the trees in a 
sheltered nook near 
the camp the deer 
nibbled the grass 
cautiously, and 
then the y went 
to the river for a 
d r i n k while a 1 1 
about the meadow 
skipped their pretty 
spotted fawns 
free and happj 
could be. From the 

BUFFALO HIDE , i i 

shattered bough oi 

a dead walnut tree that stood al 
rugged bluff overlooking the camp 



AV 




/jjf 


mk 






■m- 




.. •.>>* 





10 Shinkah 

cordant "caw! caw !" of the robber crows, but the 
campers slept on. 

After a long time the slanting rays of the 
sun penetrated to Shinkah's cradle and disturbed 
him. Next a meddlesome fly annoyed him until 
he wriggled and tipped the cradle over. Then 
he called his mother, just as other little babes 
have always called their mothers, and just as 
they call them now. In maternal love she came 
to him, just as mothers have always come to 
their little babes, and just as they come to them 
now, and she took him from his cradle just as 
mothers have always done, and just as mothers 
do now. As he looked up into her eyes the 
dimples came back into his little brown cheeks. 
With chubby hands he patted his mother's breast 
and smiled and cooed until he finally laughed 
aloud in his happiness. While his mother pre- 
pared the evening meal the babe rolled on the 
buffalo robe and kicked, and cooed, and cooed 
and kicked. 

When the aged grandmother had been 
served, the mother returned to her camp and 
ate some broiled venison and boiled dried corn 
while Shinkah again had some fat meat. When 
in his eagerness he dropped the meat on the robe, 
his mother gave it back to him, and he ate until 



The Osage River Camp 11 

he could eat no more. Slowly then the evening- 
shadows darkened the waters of the Osage River 
and the meadows along its banks. Silently the 
night came on, and the three Indians slept. Over 
the murmur of the waters of the Osage River- 
came the deep voiced B-r-r-r-u-m! B-r-r-r-u-m ! 
B-r-r-r-u-m ! of the big green bull-frog. Through 
the deepest forest ecnoed the Hoo ! Hoo ! Hoo ! of 
the great horned owl as he made ready for a 
night raid on the more timid and helpless birds. 
In tremulous wail came the lonesome howl of 
the wolves to announce that thieves, too, were 
coming forth. 

When the voices of night ceased, and the 
first songs of the lark rang out free and clear, 
the aged grandmother sat up in her tepee and 
with sightless eyes faced the dawn. In a few 
moments, from the tepee of buffalo hides, the 
mother came forth and stirred the smouldering 
embers of the camp fire into life. As she cookeri 
their breakfast, Shinkah's awakening smile met 
the first rays of the morning sun and another 
day in the Indian camp had begun. 

Days and nights like the first came and 
went with little variation in the Osage camp for 
a whole month. The mother recovered rapidly 
from her illness, but whether the recovery was 



12 Shinkah 

due to the sassafras and wild cherry-bark tea 
she took, or to the natural resistance of her body, 
is a question to be settled by the modern physi- 
cian and the Osage medicine-man who pre- 
scribed. But, at any rate, she was in better 
health each succeeding day. Shinkah soon be- 
came accustomed to the quiet, but he gradually 
acquired more power to supply the usual noise 
for the camp. Each day he grew stronger and 
larger. Each day was warmer than its pre- 
decessor had been and each day was nearer to the 
time of the home-coming, but each day seemed 
to carry the aged one further away from 
strength and life. At last one morning Shinkah 
stopped his cooing to listen to the joyous voices 
of many children as from their visit the Osages 
were returning. That day he watched the chil- 
dren at play, and he was not lonely in the 
Osage River Camp. 



The Osage River Camp 13 



NOTES. 

"Shinkah" is an Osage Indian word meaning child. Shinto- 
Shinkah means boy. 

At the time this story begins, early part of the nineteenth 
century, the Osage Indians lived in Missouri. Big Track, a noted 
chief, with his tribe of Osages, had removed to what was then 
Arkansas and located near the present town of Claremore, 
Oklahoma. The Osages claimed the territory covering Missouri 
south of the Missouri River, all of Arkansas north of the Ar- 
kansas River, and much of Eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. 
See map, page 114. 

The male deer is called a buck; the female a doe, and the 
young, a fawn; the meat is called venison. 

QUESTIONS. 
What sounds were usually heard in camp? What sounds 
did the child hear on the day following the departure of the 
tribe? Why was the camp so quiet? Why had these three In- 
dians not accompanied the others? Find on your map the Osage 
River, and the Ozark Mountains. Describe the camp at noon- 
time; at night, and at dawn. What were the "voices of the 
night?" 



CHAPTER TWO. 



Year after year the band of Indans to 
which Shinkah belonged camped along the river 
which still bears their tribal name. During the 
long winter evenings the children of this band 
listened to the legends and traditions of the 
tribe as they sat on buffalo robes or rush mats 
about the warm fires in the tepees. Year after 
year visits were made to their several kindred 
bands of Osage Indians who camped along the 
Osage, Gasconade and Niangua rivers. Year 
after year the. band spent each summer season 
at the permanent village of the tribe. This vil- 
lage was located far up the Osage River. 

Year after year the squaws planted corn, 
beans and pumpkins, and, when the crops were 
harvested, put the surplus corn in cribs and 
the other supplies in the lodges at the village. 
Year after year the warriors in a body went out 
on the western plains to get their supplies of 
meat and robes from the immense herds of buf- 
faloes. Year after year Shinkah grew and 
learned. He was a good boy, and had a goo.j 
home among a happy and contented people. 



Big Track's Village 15 

When Shinkah was five years old, his tribe, 
the Great Osages, decided to visit the Arkansas 
Osages in their village on the Verdigris River in 
what was then called the Territory of Ar- 
kansas, but is now a part of the State of 
Oklahoma. Pawhuska (White Hair), chief of 
the Great Osages, called a council at which a 
decision was made to visit Chief Big Track in his 
village. An invitation to join in this visit was 
sent to the Little Osages. Their chief called a 
council, and they decided to accompany the 
Great Osages on their visit to the Arkansas 
Osages. 

Several things had come into Shinkah's 
young life that had profoundly affected him. 
First in importance was his little sister, New 
Moon, whom he dearly loved, and for whose pro- 
tection and care he felt a great responsibility. 
From this brotherly love and responsibility 
arose many duties, some of which were not easy 
to perform. Especially disagreeable was the 
duty of surrendering his playthings to his sis- 
ter, and giving up to her his place in his moth- 
er's arms at night. But Shinkah tried hard, 
indeed, to be unselfish, and for one so young he 
succeeded admirably. 



16 Shinkah 

Early one morning in winter, Shinkah's 
mother went, as was her custom, to the lone 
tepee of her grandmother, only to learn that 
Death had called earlier. Then over the quiet 
camp arose the sounds of mourning in which 
friends joined. All that day Shinkah had to 
care for his little sister, and in the weeks that 
followed it seemed to him that his mother had 
forgotten the living, but he took care of his sis- 
ter as best he could. Although the grandmother 
had not seemed to care for Shinkah, she had 
always been very fond of his little sister, and 
after this death it seemed to Shinkah that in 
some indistinct way a dreadful mystery had 
come close to him. Usually when his little sister 
asked questions Shinkah was ready to answer, 
but when she looked out over the drifting snow 
to the great-grandmother's burial mound on a 
high hill above the village, and asked in her 
simple, child-like way, "Is grandmother cold?' 
Shinkah had no answer. 

By springtime, however, this sorrow seemed 
to Shinkah's mind to be removed from their 
immediate lives. In early summer when it was 
told to him that the tribe would go on a visit to 
the Arkansas Osages, and that he and all the 
family would go, he was indeed glad. He had 



Big Track's Village 17 

never been on any tribal visit, for at all times 
since he could remember his mother had re- 
mained in camp to attend to the needs of her in- 
valid grandmother, who was left to her sole care. 

During all these years the mother had pa- 
tiently cared for the aged one, and for this she 
had received the approval of her tribe and of 
her own conscience. Now, for once, she and her 
little ones could go with the others to enjoy the 
hospitality of their southern kindred. The 
growing crops of the tribe would be left to the 
care of the feeble and infirm and those who 
must minister to their wants, while all the 
others would go on to Big Track's village. 

One morning Shinkah's parents made a 
cache in which to leave such things as could not 
be carried on the journey. First they removed 
the grass from a small circular spot and care- 
fully laid the pieces of sod aside. Then as the 
father dug up the earth, the mother carried it 
away in baskets and cast it into the river. Larg- 
er and larger grew the circular hole as it grew 
deeper. At last the digging stopped, and into 
this cache (hiding place) were placed the extra 
clothing, robes, and household utensils, as well 
as a supply of dried pumpkin, corn and beans. 
First a pile of sticks was placed in the bottom of 



18 Shinkah 

the hole and over this a buffalo skin; then the 
supplies, clothing and household things were 
packed upon this skin, and between the house- 
hold goods and the dirt walls more sticks were 
placed. On the top of the pile thus formed an- 
other buffalo hide was placed and over this some 
more sticks; then dirt, and last of all the soil 
that had been removed. Over this spot water 
was poured to obliterate the traces of fresh soil 
and keep the replaced sod green. Then they 
threw a pile of dead boughs over the hiding 
place carelessly as if they were blown down by 
the wind, and the cache was complete. 

Hidden there beneath the sod in the woods, 
free from storms and safe from thieves, with 
the family belongings, were all the children's 
things that would not be needed — Shinkah's old 
bow and some extra arrows, his heavy winter 
moccasins and mittens; New Moon's pretty 
buckskin dolly, painted neatly, and everything 
that was not actually needed on the journey. 

Shinkah and New Moon thought, of course, 
that the time for their journey was near at hand. 
That night the ponies of the tribe were driven 
into the pens at the village, and everyone knew 
that on the morrow at sunrise the journey 
would begin. 



Big Track's Village 19 

Just at daylight the children were called 
to eat their breakfast, after which the mother 
brought her pony up near the lodge and fastened 
a long pole to either side of the patient animal. 
The ends of these poles lay on the ground several 
feet behind the pony. Behind the pony's heels 
from one pole to the other she fastened a strong- 
buffalo hide, thus forming a travois into which 
she placed supplies of dried meat and pumpkin 
first and afterwards some maple sugar, some 




earthen pots for cooking and some buffalo robe- 
for bedding. The robes were spread over the 
other things and New Moon was told that on 
these robes she would ride. 

While the mother arranged her travois, 
Shinkah rode about the village on his sturdy lit- 
tle spotted pony, anxious to be off on his long 



20 Shinkah 

journey. But when his mother called him to 
her, and began to fasten poles to his pony, he 
protested that he was to ride with the hunters 
and scouts, not with the squaws. A word from 
his father terminated this debate, however, and 
the boy's lot in the line of march fell of course 
with the women and children. Shinkah's pony 
drew a travois laden with corn, a small mortar 
and a pestle for pounding the corn, some extra 
robes for the tepee and some bundles contain- 
ing presents for the people whom they were 
going to visit. 

Just behind his mother's travois, in which, 
seated upon the camp supplies, New Moon rode, 
followed Shinkah as his pony tugged along with 
its heavy load. Soon the pleasure of the ride, 
the happiness of the others, and the natural 
good nature of the boy, drove from the little 
traveler all gloom at his disappointment in not 
being allowed a more conspicuous place; and he 
chatted with his sister, as with the morning sun 
they began their journey. 

When New Moon finally fell asleep on the 
buffalo robes that covered the camp supplies in 
her mother's travois, Shinkah turned aside and 
rode by the side of another small boy whose 
pony also drew a load, and the two boys talked 



Big Track's Village 21 

as they rode. Down the valley of the Osage 
River they went, stopping to water the horses at 
a stream and to eat a lunch at noon time. About 
four or five o'clock in the afternoon, they came 
to the valley in which the scouts had planned 
for camp and the cavalcade halted. 

This camp was in a beautiful meadow near 
the bank of the river. Large oak trees stood 
about at irregular distances and in all the val- 
ley the grass was green and tender. 

First the mother tied the front feet of her 
pony close together so that it could not run 
away, detached the travois, and turned the pony 
loose to graze. Next she released Shinkah's pony 
from its load but did not hobble it by tying its 
feet. In this way all the ponies were soon graz- 
ing, some hobbled and some free. The mother 
worked on faithfully. Taking the poles of the 
travois, she used them for the tepee poles, and 
soon the buffalo hides were stretched over them 
and the tepee completed. In like manner the 
other squaws erected their tepees, and soon a 
village appeared. 

While New Moon and Shinkah played, the 
mother worked on, placing things in the tepee, 
bringing water from the river and from the for 
est fallen branches of trees for fire wood. Next 



22 Shinkah 

she started a fire by striking a piece of steel 
against a flint and driving sparks into tinder 
(dried wood fibre) until it ignited. 

By and by the hunters began coming in- 
to camp, bringing whatever game they had 
killed. Shinkah's father brought a fat deer, 
and the mother dressed it and cooked venison 
for supper. Other hunters brought game, and, 
if any family did not have plenty of fresh meat,, 
those who had an abundance supplied the need. 
At last the warriors who had acted as scouts 
returned, and reported that no other bands of 
Indians were near, after which everybody in 
camp felt secure. 

After the camp was in order, the children 
played around the camp fires for a long while. 
As darkness covered the valley, four warriors 
moved silently out in different directions from 
the camp to watch through the night. All the 
others retired. Very soon the tired ponies 
grazed in the meadow, or drank at the river, and 
the Indians in the camp slept. Over the sleep- 
ing Osages the four warriors kept watch. 
Silently the moon arose and slowly moved across 
the sky. Then the watchers, one by one, in sil- 
ence, came into camp. The satisfied ponies, one 
by one, lay down on the soft grass; the dogs 



Big Track's Village 23 

slept by the tepees and only the moon and stars 
kept watch. 

Down the valley of the Osage River the 
tribe moved, day by day, until they were joined 
by the Little Osages, and then turning south- 
ward, they followed up a branch of the Osage 
River to its source. Next, they crossed the sum- 
mit of the Ozark Mountains, and afterwards 
followed down the Neosho River for several 
days. When they left the valley of the Neosho, 
they traveled straight across the wooded hills 
and the rolling prairies toward Big Track's vil- 
lage on the Verdigris River. 

During the entire journey the hunters rode 
far aside each day, and brought game to the 
camp at evening. Every day scouts were kept 
out, and in the early watches of the night war- 
riors stood guard over the camp. Every morn- 
ing the squaws took down the tepees, and every 
evening put them up again many miles further 
along their journey, usually in a green meadow 
by a stream. 

One mornng the hunters and scouts all 
came back to a place where the travelers had 
baited. Soon Chief Big Track and a hundred 
warriors of his tribe rode out to meet their 
guests, and escort them into the village. 



24 SHINKAH 

The chief of the Little Osages rode on one 
side of Big Track, and the chief of the Great 
Osages on the other side, while the warrors of 
the host, riding on in advance, acted as scouts 
for the visiting tribes. 

After riding up another hill they came at 
last in sight of the village towards which, day 
after day, they had been traveling. There stood 
hundreds of Osage lodges clustered close to- 
gether and by them the "big" lodge for religious 
and fraternal rites. Not far away a great 
mound (Claremore Mound) stood, just as the 
Blue Mound stood near Shinkah's home. On the 
green meadows, under leafy trees through 
whose boughs the darker green of mistletoe ap- 
peared, played groups and groups of happy chil- 
dren; along the river above the village grazed 
the great herd of ponies and near them were the 
herd-boys; in the rich alluvial valley below their 
homes were the fields of growing grain, and by 
a hundred camp fires busy squaws were prepar- 
ing the feast. 

Down the long hill and for miles across 
the low, level prairie rode the visitors and there 
at last the three tribes mingled in social greet- 
ing. Exclamations of gladness arose from host 
and guest alike, as friend met friend, after long 



Big Track's Village 



25 




OSAGE INDIANS DANCING NEAR TH1 



separation. Soon two other villages arose be 
side the former village — village of tepees on 
either side of the village of lodges — and two 
other herds of ponies grazed in the valley. Then 
the feast began. That night presents were ex- 
changed among adults while children played by 
bright camp fires. When at length the moon 
arose, it looked down upon thousands of Osage 
Indians as they moved rythmically in the thanks- 
giving dance, while all around the older Indians 
sat and talked of happy days gone by, and joy 
and freedom reigned. 



26 Shinkah 

chapter two. 

NOTES. 

There were three divisions of Osages at this time: Great 
Osages, under Chief Pawhuska (White Hair) ; Little Osages, 
under Chief Wind, and the Arkansas Osages, under Chief Big- 
Track. 

It was customary for Osages to mourn for their dead in 
a prescribed manner and for their friends to join in their cere- 
monies of lamentations. Burial mounds of stones were erected 
on high hills or mounds near their villages or camps. 

The permanent village of the great Osage Indians was 
situated near the present town of Rich Hill, Missouri. Near 
this village were some natural mounds (Blue Mounds), used by 
the Indians for ceremonial rites and also as burial grounds. 
Near the village 01 Big-Track was also a large mound, (Clare- 
more Mound), probably used for the same purposes. 

In summer, each tribe lived at some permanent village and 
cultivated crops of corn, beans, pumpkins, tobacco, etc. 

The lodges in their permanent villages were built by the 
men. They first erected poles in a circular manner, thatched 
the roof, leaving a hole in the center for smoke and also 
plastered the sides of the building with clay. At an early date, 
and sometimes even later, bark houses and tepees were used. 

At each permanent Osage village was erected a large lodge 
for religious and fraternal rites. This "Big lodge" and the 
nearby mound at Big Track's village were similar to the dis- 
tinguishing marks of White Hair's Village. 

• jl'ESTIONS. 
Find on the map Claremore, Oklahoma, and Rich Hill. 
Missouri. Trace on the map the following Rivers: Osage, 
Neosho, and Verdigris. How does mistletoe grow? 



CHAPTER THREE. 

PLAYMATES. 

Shinkah, of course, played with his little 
sister, but like other boys, he had playmates 
among the boys of his own age. Among the boys 
of his age and size at Big Track's village, was 
a Pawnee boy named Beaver who, with his par- 
ents and several other Pawnee families, was vis- 
iting at the home of the Arkansas Osages at this 
time. 

Although Shinkah and Beaver could not un- 
derstand each other very well at first, they soon 
formed a friendship and became playmates. 
They conversed in the sign language until grad- 
ually they learned many words from each other. 

One day when Shinkah's mother was out, 
he took Beaver to the vacant tepee and gave him 
some maple sugar. The little Pawnee indicated 
that he had never tasted anything so good and 
wanted to know how it was made. Shinkah de- 
scribed to him (mainly in sign language) the 
process of tapping the maple tree, and collect- 
ing the sap, which was a pleasant task. Bring- 
ing the wood for the fire that boiled the sap was 
a disagreeable task, and the description of this 



28 Shinkah 

part of the process ended with the sign for 
"back-ache." Stirring the thickening syrup as 
it boiled was also described as a disagreeable 
task, and the description of that part of the pro- 
cess ended with a sign for "smoke in eyes.' 
Beaver stoutly affirmed that he would gladly 
perform all these tasks for more of the brown 
loaf, whereupon Shinkah brought forth an addi- 
tional piece of sugar for his guest. After bein^' 
served generously for the third time, Beaver 
made the sign for "sour" and Shinkah laughed 
heartily. 

Together the playmates walked out under 
the trees where New Moon and her playmate, 
Little Star, an Osage girl of her own age, were 
playing "keep house." New Moon had sun- 
flower stalks for tepee poles, and over these she 
had fastened her mother's pretty new shawl. 
This shawl had been given to the mother as 
guest of the Arkansas Osages. Shinkah was 
inclined to chide New Moon for such free use 
of the pretty new shawl, when he remembered 
how he himself had used the sugar; so he did 
not chide his sister this time. 

After due persuasion, the boys agreed (just 
as the girls knew they would), to be "ponies' 
and play "tribal visit." Beaver was to be Little 



Playmates 29 

Star's lazy pony and Shinkah was to be New 
Moon's bad pony. Little Star's whip wore out 
in her vain attempts to get started with her tra- 
vois, but New Moon's bad pony began the jour- 
ney for the tribal visit by running away. First, 
he spilled New Moon's corncob dolly out of the 
travois, and almost killed it ; next he turned the 
travois over by the bank of the river, where all 
of the food for the feast tumbled out and part of 
the maple sugar fell into the water; and last, 
but worst of all, he tore the pretty new shawl. 

Very quietly New Moon returned the shawl 
to the tepee, and Shinkah readily promised not 
to tell. 

By and by New Moon rejoined her play- 
mates, and the journey for a tribal visit was re- 
sumed. The new tepee which New Moon brought 
from her mother's tepee this time was a piece 
of real buffalo hide, so small however that only 
one of the children could enter the tepee at a 
time, and if one of the boys sat down in it his 
feet stuck out. Nevertheless in due time they 
came to the homes of the "tribe" they were to 
visit and exchanged "expensive" presents — stick 
horses. New Moon was afraid that the loss of 
the greater portion of the maple sugar would 
make the feast inadequate, but for some "unac- 



30 Shinkah 

countable" reason, Beaver and Shinkah pro- 
posed that the girls could have all the sugar, so 
it happened that at the feast there was enough 
sugar for all. 

Shinkah was the fleetest five-year-old foot- 
racer among all the Osages, but Beaver fre- 
quently beat him when they ran the customary 
course — fifty yards. When they wrestled, Shin- 
kah usually won. At shooting with bows and 
arrows they were about equally matched, and 
the same might be said as to their skill in throw- 
ing the tomahawk. At these last two sports the 
boys spent hours and hours. No matter which 
of the two won in any contest, the other never 
behaved peevishly because he was defeated. 

Frequently in camp at evening, some bov 
would suddenly appear wth a long piece of 
grass rope or a buckskin string fastened to him 
and call, "Crooked trail! I'm it!" Then, hold- 
ing to this "trail rope," or to other pieces fas- 
tened to it, all the little boys and girls would 
follow as the leader dashed in and out among 
the tepees and lodges until all the trailers quit 
or the leader "gave-up." Shinkah and Beaver 
were both fond of this game, and whoever was 
leader knew that when the race of endurance 
ended both these boys would still be holding up 



Playmates 31 

the trail rope. Which of the two was better in 
this endurance test no one knew, not even the 
boys themselves. 

One afternoon several boys were playing 
"Dare" when Shinkah and Beaver chanced to be 
matched. They accordingly exchanged dares, 
Beaver's dare to Shinkah was to drop from a 
bough of a tall tree that stood by the river's 
bank. It was a sycamore tree and there were no 
branches except those at a great height. Shin- 
kah's dare to Beaver was to jump from the top of 
a great rock that stood high above the surround- 
ing valley. The judges, (older boys previously 
selected) decided the order of events by having 
the less difficult dares first accepted. This of 
course made Shinkah and Beaver the last pair to 
decide their contests in dares. The order in 
which the two were to come was decided by 
"flipping" a stone. The wet side "came up", 
this decided that Shinkah should first, perform 
Beaver's dare, so that Beaver, the Pawnee, 
would be the very last one to do his accepted 
task. 

Slowly the game went on with now and 
then a failure and now and then some amusing 
performance. One boy jumped into the river, 
at a point where the water was shallow, on a 



32 Shinkah 

dare. Every one watched to see that the terms 
of each dare were fully complied with, and, if 
disputes arose, they were decided by the judges. 
Finally, it was Shinkah's time, and with great 
effort he climbed the giant tree. Many of the 
boys said he would be foolish to jump. 
When he reached the first branches, which were 
far from the ground, he started out over the 
water on a long slender bough. Several objec- 
tions were offered, but they were over-ruled by 
the judges, who said that no particular branch 
was specified in the dare and therefore Shinkah 
could choose any branch. Gradually Shinkah 
made his way out on the bough as it bent lower 
and lower over the water. At last the bough 
?ame slowly down, to within a few yards of the 
water, until it would bend no lower. Then 
he let go and dropped to the water. Of course he 
sank out of sight, but he soon reappeared, and 
struck out for the shore, which he reached 
safely. When he climbed back on the bank ex- 
hausted, all the boys shouted, "Good Boy! 7 
"Good Boy!" 

As soon as congratulations were ended, all 
syes were turned to Beaver who left the group 
and ran to the camp. Some of the boys said, 
''Coward!" but the judges said "Wait!" Back 



Playmates 33 

to the group came Beaver bringing a large earth- 
en pot from his mother's tepee. This he filled 
with sand from the river, and emptied it at the 
base of the rock from which he had agreed to 
jump. Objections were raised at once but again 
the judges decided in favor of the contestant that 
any precaution not prohibited in the dare could 
be taken, and so the little Pawnee went on bring- 
ing sand until he had prepared a place to alight 
in his leap from the great rock. At last he 
seemed satisfied with the preparation and ran 
up the hill to the upper side of the rock, from 
which place he climbed to the top. Not an in- 
stant did he hesitate but jumped and alighted 
squarely in the sand pile while all the Osage 
boys again shouted "Good Boy!" "Good Boy!" 
Smiling through the pain of a sprained ankle, 
and limping no more than he was compelled to, 
Beaver rejoined the party, and they all went into 
camp for supper. The injury was quite painfui 
for a week or more but did not prove permanent. 

Toward the end of their visit, these two 
playmates, Shinkah and Beaver, talked together 
much, as by that time they could understand 
each other quite well. Indeed, Beaver had of 
necessity learned much of the Osage language 
for no other language was spoken in their games. 



34 Shinkah 

As the Osage and Pawnee languages were very 
similar, this was an easy task, besides the com- 
mon mode of Indian expression — the sign lan- 
guage — had helped very much. Beaver had told 
his friend the meaning of many Pawnee words 
which he felt himself compelled to use frequently; 
and in turn Shinkah had told Beaver, day after 
day, the meaning of Osage words. 

Both boys knew two months was the limit 
of their respective visits, and both knew that 
the Pawnees, having come first, would return 
before the Osages did. As their separation time 
approached, the two boys were more and more 
by themselves in their play. One day these two 
boys rode far out on the prairie to play "little" 
as they had often done before. It was hunting 
young birds, but the boys had certain ceremonial 
details which they observed in this pastime, and 
these, of course, caused them to call it play. 
When the two playmates had gone far enough 
out on the prairie, they hobbled their ponies and 
then sought the places where groups of young 
birds could be found. As the fledglings .arose 
from the grass in their fright, Beaver would 
cast a stick with a hawk's wing attached to 
either end of it into the air above them. Think 
ing they were in danger from a hawk, the young 



Playmates 35 

birds would tumble pell mell to the grass, and 
Shinkah, who had run under the stick in its 
flight, would kill them. Each bird was cere- 
moniously scalped. 

When the catch amounted to ten or twelve, 
the boys again mounted their ponies and rode 
back near camp. The ponies were released and 
allowed to return to their respective herds. The 
playmates then took fire from the camp and go- 
ing down the river for a long way they built 
another fire over which they cooked and ate their 
game. After that they sat by the river a long, 
long time and talked of their far away homes and 
their separation. They agreed to remember 
each other and always to be friends. They also 
agreed that when they became warriors they 
would counsel peace between Pawnees and 
Osages, but united war upon their common 
enemies. 

By and by it was sunset, and therefore 
the time for story telling was at hand, so Shin- 
kah told Beaver the Legend of the Origin of the 
Osage Indians. Briefly it was about as follows : 

"Once upon a time a snail was washed by 
the floods far, far down the river. He was a 
good snail, but he was alone. The Great Spirit, 
in appreciation of his goodness and pity for his 



36 Shinkah 

lonesomeness, caused the snail to sleep for a long, 
long time. During this sleep the snail's entire 
being was changed. When he awoke he started 
to go back into his shell but it was far too small. 
Then he looked at himself, and, seeing that he 
had long legs, stood up and walked about. As 
he walked he kept growing. Hair grew on his 
head, and from his shoulders long powerful 
arms grew. 

"This new creature remembered his former 
home and walked far back up the river to the 
home of the snails but he could not live with 
them and he went on in search of some place he 
could call home. When he grew hungry, the 
Great Spirit gave him a bow and arrows and 
taught him how to get food. Day by day, he 
went on in search of a home. 

"At last the man, for such he really was. 
came to the hut of a beaver. The old beaver 
came out and said, 'Who are you, and what do 
you want?' The man told his story, and said 
he was seeking a home. The young man and 
the beaver were about to fight when the beaver's 
daughter came to them and said she would teach 
the man to build a hut so that he would not have 
occasion to trespass thereafter. To this ar- 
rangement the old beaver finally agreed. Then 



Playmates 



37 




OSAGE .MAX WEARING BEAVER 
SKIN C \r i Modern) 



the beaver's daughter 
and the young man 
went away together 
and she taught him 
how to build a hut, or 
lodge, and how to 
plaster it with mud. 

"Because of her 
kindness, the Great 
Spirit changed the 
beaver's daughter in- 
to a maiden, and she 
became the man's 
squaw. These two 
were the first Osage 
Indians." 

Beaver asked sev- 
eral questions as to 
the meaning of words, 
and then said he un- 
derstood the legend. 
He also now under- 
stood, he said, why the 
s a g e s wore the 
beaver skin as an or- 
nament. 

In the deepening 



38 Shinkah 

twilight the two playmates walked back to camp. 
The next morning when Shinkah awoke, Beaver 
was riding Northward toward the valley of the 
Platte River — the home of the Pawnee Indians, 

NOTES. 

To"hobble" the ponies was to tie their front feet together 
so that they could not run away. 

The Osage Indians made ropes from grass, bark, etc. They 
also plaited thongs of rawhide together for ropes cf greater 
strength, with which they tied their ponies. 

The Pawnee Indians lived at this time in the territory now 
comprising the State of Nebraska. 

QUESTIONS. 

How did the Osage Indians make maple sugar? How were 
each of the following games played: "keeping house", "crooked 
trail", "dare", "little"? What other amusements had Beaver 
and Shinkah? Give in substance the legend told Beaver by 
Shinkah. 



CHAPTER FOUR. 

AT HOME. 

When the Osages began their homeward 
journey from Big Track's village, they recrossed 
the nrairies in passing from the Verdigris Rivev 
to the Neosho valley; followed up the Neosho to 
its source; crossed the Ozarks and went down a 
tributary of the Osage River to the home of the 
Little Osages. Here they rested two days and 
then the Great Osages said "good-bye" to the 
Little Osages, and resumed their journey up the 
Osage River to their permanent village at a 
point near where the city of Rich Hill, Mis- 
souri, now stands. 

This village was some distance back from 
the upper Osage River which is here sometimes 
called the Marais des Cygnes River. The vil- 
lage consisted of several hundred lodges or 
cabins clustered together in an irregular fash- 
ion. Each lodge was circular in form, and usu- 
ally about twenty feet in diameter. In each 
lodge the whole structure was supported by posts 
set firmly in the ground. The roof was thatched 
and the bark or thatched walls were plastered 
with mud. Some of these lodges were lined with 



40 Shinkah 

skins of wild animals. In the center of the roof 
was left an opening through which the smoke 
from the fire built in the center of the lodge 
could escape. An opening in the wall served a^ 
a door. In cold weather a buffalo hide was 
hung across this opening, but usually it was left 
open. 

In addition to the lodges there were corn 
cribs for the grain and pens for the ponies that 
formed a part of the village. In winter, when 
the weather was unusually severe, the ponies 
were kept in these pens and fed corn and fodder, 
and in the summer, at any time when the ponies 
would be needed in the early morning, they were 
kept in these pens over night. 

After their long journey from Arkansas, 
this band of Great Osages, to which Shinkah be- 
longed, came at last to their home. As it was late 
in the afternoon when they reached the village 
and entered their lodges, they rested until 
morning. The next day the Indians brought 
back to their lodges the things that had been 
hidden when they went to visit the Little Osages. 

Shinkah and New Moon went to help carry 
the contents of their cache back to the lodge, but 
as soon as New Moon got her painted buckskin 
dolly again, she ran with it to a secluded spot 



At Home 41 

where she could not hear her mother call, and for 
a long, long time talked to her dolly. Shinkah 
helped bring back the family belongings, and 
then helped his mother pound the corn. That 
day they had corn flakes to eat with their meat, 
and they also had cooked dried pumpkin and 
beans. For the remainder of that day and all 
day long for many succeeding days, Shinkah 
played with the other boys. 

One afternoon when the boys were bath- 
ing in the river, Shinkah succeeded in swimming 
across the stream. This was a very difficult 
task for one so young. Soon after this his father 
made for him a little canoe. It was a birch bark 
canoe, light and strong. The oars were of ash 
wood, light and durable. Shinkah was very 
proud of his canoe, and for the remainder of 
that summer spent much of his time on the 
river. Sometimes he rowed the canoe or sat 
silently in it, drifting down stream under the 
shade of overhanging trees, sometimes he swam 
with the other boys, and sometimes, spear in 
hand, he waded in the shallow water, looking for 
fish ; once in a great while, he got a big fish with 
his spear. 

One morning Shinkah had started to the 
river and was just passing the lodge of one of the 



42 Shinkah 

old women of the village, when she came forth 
and fastened above her door some green corn 
husks. Shinkah knew the sign, of course, and, 
crying out, "Corn is ripe!" "Corn is ripe!" 
dashed back past his father's lodge, and ran on 
to the cornfields to get the first roasting ears of 
the season. Scores of Osages repeated the cry, 
and ran on to the cornfields, for now all Osages 
could gather roasting ears — as many as they 
could eat. 

In the village, fires were soon burning, 
and corn was being roasted by every family. 
All day long the feast continued. At night, upon 
the meadow, lighted by a big camp fire, the 
Osages danced the green corn dance while 
among them moved the medicine-men to ward 
off evil spirits. Accompanied by the tom-tom's 
thrum! thrum! the warriors sang of the good- 
ness of the Great Spirit and the faithfulness of 
the Osages, while in unison the great throng of 
dancers swayed up and down or round and 
round upon the field of merry-making, and the 
night wore on till gray dawn came and the danc- 
ers sought rest. 

Later much green corn was brought from 
the fields and dried for future use. Still later, 
when autumn came, the Great Osages went as 



At Home 43 

usual out on the western plains to secure their 
supplies of buffalo hides and meat from the 
herds of that region. Shinkah and his mother 
were to go also. After the usual days of prep- 
aration, the tribe moved out westward over the 
great grassy plains day by day. 

One day the scouts announced that there 
were great herds of buffalo grazing not far 
northward and that they were gradually coming- 
southward, toward where the Osages were. At 
once camp was made in a low valley near a 
stream, so that the trees partially concealed the 
tepees. Early the next morning all the Osages 
were in readiness for the coming chase. Each 
hunter, well mounted, carried at his back a great 
quiver of arrows and a strong bow. He also car- 
ried a tomahawk and a stout spear. The women 
and children were also mounted, ready to ride 
and collect the meat and buffalo hides. It was 
customary, in order that it could be known to 
whom a dead buffalo belonged, for the hunters 
each to place a private mark on his arrows. 
Whoever found a dead buffalo at such times 
could tell by the marks on the arrows who had 
killed it. 

At sunrise, northward from the camp as 
far as one could see were buffaloes — some graz- 



44 Shinkah 

ing and others lazily arising to graze again after 
sleep. They were scattered all over the plains 
in herds, large and small. Some of them 
were within half a mile of the camp, but how 
far away the herds extended could not be told 
for at the distant horizon were buffaloes, and 
more buffaloes. 

At a signal given by their leader all the 
hunters moved out of camp, one line going east 
and a like line going west, silently and in single 
file. Shinkah wondered how, under such cir- 
cumstances, they all could seem so calm and free 
from excitement. Not a sound came back to 
camp as slowly the lines moved on. When per- 
haps two miles from camp, each line turned 
northward, quietly riding on either side of the 
buffaloes. As the lines passed on, herd after 
herd moved back fill the buffaloes formed a 
solid mass. Shinkah wondered when the chase 
would begin, or, if something had happened to 
call the hunters away from their prey. 

Suddenly there was born on the still morn- 
ing breezes such a fierce yell as would freeze 
the blood in one's veins. Wheeling from their 
path, the hunters charged the herd from both 
sides. The movement divided the plain into 
two mighty moving masses, the one going back 



At Home 



45 



northward unpursued and the other southward. 
Again and again above the deep thunder of hoof- 
beats arose that awful yell; and, terror stricken, 
ten thousand buffaloes fled south and west to- 
ward the land of the wild Comanche and Wichita 
Indians while ever hung on either side of the 




OSAGE PONY 



immense herd merciless red riders. Again and 
again some huge buffalo fell dead upon the 
plains and the great mass dashed on. As the 
chase passed the camp, Shinkah recognized his 
father, and in spite of his mother's protests, the 
little Indian, impelled by the instinct of his race, 
rode forward to join in this manly sport. 



46 Shinkah 

The powerful horse upon which the father 
rode seemed to Shinkah to float rapidly away, 
and he lashed his own pony in an attempt to 
keep up. At last a deep bellowing sound near 
him attracted his attention, just in time for him 
to wheel his pony aside, and escape being borne 
to the ground by an infuriated monster, With 
glaring eyes and lowered horns a wounded buf- 
falo had left the herd to charge the young 
hunter. As soon as possible the buffalo turned 
to pursue Shinkah again. In a little while the 
boy saw that he was gaining on the buffalo and 
turning as the pony kept on running, he let fly 
several arrows. One of his little arrows stuck 
in the shaggy shoulders of his pursuer. At last 
the buffalo gave up the chase, and returned to 
the herd but at a point much nearer to the rear 
of the herd than that which he formerly occu- 
pied. Shinkah, having lost sight of his father, 
returned to his mother. 

About the time Shinkah returned to camp, 
the squaws and a few children rode out to begin 
the day's work of skinning the buffaloes and col- 
lecting the choicest meat. Shinkah knew his 
father's arrow mark, and at first thought it 
great fun to ride on ahead and find the game his 
father had killed. But as the labor of taking the 



At Home 47 

hides and the meat multiplied, he wished that 
his father would not have such continuous good 
luck. It seemed to Shinkah that he and his 
mother had more than enough to do. If he could 
only kill the game it would be sport, but this 
"squaw's" work was disagreeable to one full of 
the spirit of the chase. His morning's advent- 
ure, however, had come so close to being a trag- 
edy that he decided to stay with his mother. 

All day they labored, and Shinkah became 
very tired. Whenever he suggested going back 
to camp, his mother said, "No, we must save our 
game." At last many squaws had gone back to 
camp — all of them so far as Shinkah could tell — 
so had the warriors, and he confidently expected 
that he and his mother would soon return. 
Therefore, when his mother again mounted and 
rode on, Shinkah followed after her slowly. 
Finally she shaded her eyes with her hand and 
scanned the horizon for another buffalo while 
the boy secretly hoped that she would find none, 
but she did, however, and she rode on out to it 
As bad luck would have it, she dismounted, by 
which Shinkah knew that his father's arrows 
were found again. Again he deplored his 
father's good luck, but as his mother was beck- 
oning for him he rode on hurriedly and as he 



48 Shinkah 

rode noted the great size of the dead buffalo. 
When at last he reached the dead monster, his 
mother pointed with pride to a little arrow fas- 
tened in the shoulder of the buffalo. The boy's 
heart leaped with joy, for the arrow bore his 
own mark, and the game was none other than 
his pursuer of the early morning. The great 
arrows bearing his father's mark stuck from 
the animal's side,and the terrific spear wound 
was not a boy's mark either, but Shinkah said, 
"This is my buffalo" and his mother agreed. 

While they worked away, and Shinkah 
talked, a tired hunter riding a jaded horse and 
bearing an empty quiver, a big bow, a tomahawk 
and a blood-stained spear, came to help them 
finish their task, and when this task was com- 
pleted, Shinkah with his father and mother rode 
back to camp in the gathering darkness. New 
Moon was waiting for them and she was the 
first to hear about Shinkah's buffalo. 

The Osages knew that they were on com- 
mon hunting grounds, and were constantly li- 
able to clash with some other tribe of hunters; 
therefore Chief Pawhuska (White Hair) and 
the older men advised haste and caution in the 
chase. They knew the havoc that often followed 
conflicts between hostile red men on the chase 



At Home 49 

This, of course, Shinkah did not understand. 
He noted the great numbers, as well as the skill 
and courage of the Osage hunters, and secretly 
hoped that they might clash with some other In- 
dians for he wanted to see the fight and celebrate 
the victory. No other Indians were seen, how- 
ever, during the journey. 

At the end of three weeks from the time 
they had started this hunt, the ponies dragging 
travois that were loaded with buffalo hides and 
half-dried buffalo meat slowly tugged along the 
homeward bound trail. Warriors scouted front, 
right and left — others trailed behind, but there 
was no attack from any source, and at last the 
tribe arrived safe at home with abundant sup- 
plies. "It has been a good hunt", said the older 
ones. "It has been hard mean work for me", 
thought Shinkah. At any rate it was finished. 

There was no hurry about tanning hides 
and completing the process of drying the meat 
so Shinkah was excused from further duty for 
some weeks. He needed the time, too, for he 
must of course go on "buffalo hunts" with the 
other little boys. Day after day, the children re- 
enacted, as best they could, the scenes of the 
chase on the great plains. 



50 



Shinkah 



While the Osages were away on the buffalo 
hunt, herds of deer had come about their village. 
From these herds for several days the hunters 
killed and the squaws cared for the meat and 
hides when the game was brought to camp. 

Finally the meat was all dried, and the 
hides tanned. Then the pumpkins were gath- 
ered, sliced into thin pieces, dried and stored 




DEER (Buck) AND 

FAWN IN OSAGE 

FOREST 



away. Next the corn was gathered and placed 
in "cribs" or rude pens and then the thanksgiv- 
ing dance was given. At this dance everybody 
took part. 

Some days in autumn Shinkah, New Moon 
and their mother went with other women and 



At Home 51 

children to gather the hickory nuts and pecans 
that the frost had caused to fall. New Moon 
would soon say her back ached and run away to 
play. By and by, the mother would call the chil- 
dren and all the party would ride home with 
their loads of nuts for winter use. 

By the time winter weather came the hunt- 
ers had killed nearly all the game on the prairies 
and in the river valley near the permanent vil- 
lage, and one by one small bands were leaving 
that place to go each to some secluded camp, 
where wood was abundant and game more plen- 
tiful, 

Shinkah's band, as usual, moved down the 
Osage River several days' journey and camped. 
When the weather was not too bad, the hunters 
were out after game every day, but when the 
snow storms came no one left the camp. Shin- 
kah was glad when the storm winds from the 
north howled through the leafless trees and drove 
the snow in blinding gusts everywhere, for then 
he knew that the hunters would be in camp all 
day, and he could be near them and listen to their 
tales of war and the chase. 

At night all sat by the fires and the older 
ones told legends of the tribe to the children or 
cracked and ate pecans and other nuts. Often 



52 Shinkah 

one family would visit another, and while the 
older ones talked the younger ones alternately 
listened and played. 

One bright, cold day when all the hunters 
were out in search of game, Shinkah went to the 
river to try to get some fish as he had often seen 
others do. First he cut a hole in the ice with his 
little tomahawk, and then, club in hand, waited 




WINTER SCENE ON THE OSAGE RIVER 

for the fish to come, and they came. Shinkah 
stunned several with his club and took them from 
the icy water. In an hour's time he got as many 
as he wanted to carry and started home with 
them. At once the numb feet told him his toes 



At Home 53 

were frozen, and, before he reached camp numb 
fingers told another unpleasant story. 

Giving the fish to his mother and following 
her directions the little hunter removed his moc- 
casins and mittens and bathed his hands and feet 
in snow until they were "thawed" out. It was a 
painful process, but his mother said it was the 
only way to save the fingers and toes, so the boy 
endured it. When the frost was well out of his 
fingers and toes, the boy entered the tepee, and 
his mother brought him some meat and some 
soup, the latter being thickened with corn meal 
or powdered corn. The meat he took in his fin- 
gers and thus ate it, but the soup he took 
with a shell spoon. He also had a delicious drink 
made of wild honey and water, and, at last, his 
mother gave him a piece of persimmon cake. His 
fingers and toes still burned and annoyed him 
but at last he fell asleep. 

For many days Shinkah was unable to play 
shinney on the ice with the other boys or even to 
spin his stone top, but he received much praise 
for his skill in getting the fish, and this was some 
recompense. 

When the little hunter was again able to 
wear his moccasins, he was content to hunt with 
the other boys for rabbits and other small game 



54 Shinkah 

near the camp for it seemed that his toes and fin- 
gers were very easily affected by cold. Always, 
afterward he was careful not to get his fingers 
or toes frostbitten. 



To "jerk" meat was to cut or tear it into thin strips. 

The tom-tom is a rude drum consisting of stretched raw- 
hide. 

In preparing buffalo robes the Osages kept the hide from 
the sun for several days, then stretched it and scraped off the 
pieces of flesh that had been left on — this was called dressing 
the hide. To tan it, the hide was placed for one or two days 
in water in which oak bark had been soaked. Other skins used 
for robes were prepared in the same way. When the hide was 
to be used for buckskin cr leather, the hair was first removed 
by soaking the hide in water and ashes. Then followed the 
tanning, extra dressing, etc. 

Shinney was played by the Osage boys much as it is now 
played by other boys — in an open field, one side trying, by 
striking the ball with sticks, to drive it beyond the goal of the 
opposing players. 

The Osage stone tops were made by the boys themselves. 
They used strings for spinning these tops just as boys now spin 
tops. 

Osage Indians, like other North American Indians, made 
pottery — cooking vessels, etc. A shell spoon w T as made by 
fastening half a shell into a stick for a handle. Persimmon pulp 
dried, powdered, and mixed with corn meal, was sweetened with 
maple sugar, and baked into cakes. 

QUESTIONS. 

Describe an Osage lodge. What was the sign that corn 
was ripe? Where did the Indians hunt buffalo? Describe the 
first day of the hunt. How did they know to whom a dead 
buffalo belonged? Did Shinkah kill a buffalo? Why did the 
tribe separate into small bands in winter? Describe the games 
played by the boys in winter? How did Shinkah freeze his 
fingers and toes? 



CHAPTER FIVE. 

BIG SPRING COUNCIL. 

When spring time came, the Osages who 
had sought winter camps returned to their per- 
manent village. Not long after the return of 
Shinkah's band from the winter camp (men- 
tioned in the previous chapter) the Great Osages 
received word that the delegates whom they had 
previously sent to see the president of the United 
States at Washington City would soon return. 
It therefore became necessary at once for the 
tribe to prepare to meet with the Little Osages 
in council. The purchase of Louisiana from 
France by the United States had brought the In- 
dians of the West into close relations with the 
United States Government instead of with the 
French Government as heretofore. This confer- 
ence had grown out of the new relations. 

Delegates from the Indians of the West — 
Osages, Missouris, Kansas, Iowas, Otoes, Paw 
nees, Sioux, Pottawatomies, Foxes and Sacs — 
had some months earlier gone to Washington, 
I). C, to confer with the President. Upon their 
return, they were to report to their respective 
tribes in council assembled. Accordingly when 



56 Shinkah 

this word was brought, swift messengers were 
sent to Saint Louis to meet the returning Osage 
delegates, and to come with them to the lower 
Big Spring on the Niangua River. There the 
Great and Little Osages were to assemble and 
discuss the report. 

When at last all preparations were complet- 
ed, the Great Osages moved down the Osage 
River valley again. Again Shinkah rode be- 
hind the warriors with his mother, and again 
his pony tugged along with heavily laden tra- 
vois. For days and days they journeyed down 
the river valley, camping each evening and re- 
suming their forward movement each morn- 
ing. At one camp, however, they were compelled 
to remain for several days on account of heavy 
rains. Then, because the river was overflowing 
its banks, they left the valley and traveled 
straight across the hills and prairies to the 
Ozark Mountains. Often their progress was im- 
peded by thick woods, crooked trails and stony 
ground but on and on they went for they were 
very anxious to hear the news from the Great 
Chief at Washington City. 

Slowly the ponies dragged their loaded tra- 
v r ois through the woods and up the rolling hills,. 
and the women and children urged them for- 



Big Spring Council 57 

ward. One afternoon, Shinkah's pony had 
gradually fallen behind until he was the hind 
most traveler. Becoming utterly discouraged, 
he allowed the pony to take its own time, and 
follow the wide trail at leisure. The sun was 
disappearing behind a low range of the Ozark 
Mountains when shouts far up the trail at- 
tracted the attention of the belated traveler, and 
he urged his tired pony forward up the trail 
After riding several hundred yards he came to 
the top of the range and looked down into a deep 
valley. How deep the valley was he could not 
tell until rounding a clump of stunted oaks he 
saw far, far below a green valley and acres and 
acres of dark blue water. Then he knew that 
for the first time he looked upon the Big Spring. 
Involuntarily the boy shouted as this panorama 
of beauty lay beneath him. On the South sid? 




THE BIG SPRING 



58 Shinkah 

of the giant spring in a green meadow stood a 
village of tepees. They were the tepees of the 
Little Osages, who had already arrived; nearby 
steadily arose the tepees of the Great Osages as 
they began hastily to form their village; and 
over the trail, which here threaded along a cliff, 
and there was lost to view among the trees, hur- 
ried hundreds of stragglers trying to reach camp 
as soon as possible. How Shinkah rode the in- 
tervening two miles down that perilous trail 
without upsetting his load would be hard to 
explain, but the sides and shoulders of his spot- 
ted pony bore marks that told why the distance 
had been so quickly traveled. 

That night Shinkah played about the camp 
fires with the other children but New Moon was 
not well enough to play. The next morning she 
was worse. 

Early in the morning a great tepee was 
erected. That day, in this tepee, the returned 
delegates made their report to the council of 
the assembled Osages. 

A letter from the Great Chief himself was 
read and its contents explained. The letter fol- 
lows: 

"My Friends and Children, Chiefs of the 
Osages, Missouris, Kansas, Otoes, Panis, Ayo- 



Big Spring Council 59 

was (undoubtedly Iowas), Sioux, Poutewatto- 
mies, Foxes and Sacs : 

"Your visit to us at this place has given 
me great pleasure and I am very thankful for 
your having taken the trouble of so long a jour- 
ney for this purpose. But I hope that it will 
turn out as useful to your people as to us. 

"I lament indeed the loss of several of your 
chiefs by sickness. Accident and change in diet 
and manner of living have probably occasioned 
this, and the will of the Great Spirit to whom 
we must all submit. Men must die at home or 
abroad. They are lost, but friendship and a good 
understanding between your people and the 
United States are established and our mutual 
happiness promoted. My children, you .have 
had opportunity of seeing many things among 
us. You have seen how by living in peace, culti- 
vating the earth and practicing the useful arts, 
we, who were once but a few travelers landing 
on this island, are now a great people and grow- 
ing daily greater. You, too, possess good land, 
and abundance of it ; by cultivating that and liv- 
ing in peace you may become as we are. You 
have seen here some of the Cherokees and Chick- 
asaws, who are just now beginning to follow our 
advice, to raise food in plenty from the earth, to 



60 Shinkah 

make their own clothes, to learn the useful arts, 
to live in peace. Instead of lessening in their 
numbers as they did while they followed war 
and hunting, they now begin to increase, to live 
in ease, peace and plenty. It will give me great 
pleasure to see all the other nations of red men 
following their example and advancing in 
knowledge, prosperity and happiness. We shall 
do everything within our power, my children, 
to encourage and aid them in this, we cannot do 
it at once and to all, because there are many na- 
tions, but we will proceed as fast as we can in 
furnishing them what is most useful 

"This is the advice, my children, which I 
wish you to carry to your nations ; tell them that 
their father here receives them all into his bosom 
as his children. That he wishes to see them live 
in peace with one another, that their wives and 
children may be safe in their houses, that they 
may have leisure to provide food in plenty from 
the earth, and to make clothes for themselves, 
that they may raise children and become strong 
and happy. 

"Tell them how many days' journey you 
have traveled among your white brethren from 
Saint Louis to this place, from this place to Bal- 
timore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and 



Big Spring Council 61 

back again; that everywhere they received you 
as brethren and have shown to you a sincere 
friendship. Tell your chiefs, your warriors, 
your women and children that you will find in 
me an affectionate father, desirous to maintain 
peace and friendship among all his children, and 
like every good father unwilling to see quarrel- 
ling and wrangling and fighting among his chil- 
dren, that he will endeavor to put our trade with 
them on a fair and just footing, and so prevent 
their being cheated and imposed on by bad men. 
And may the Great Spirit take you, my children, 
by the hand, conduct you back in health and 
safety to your families and give you to find them 
in health and happiness after your long absence. 

"I give you my words in writing that you 
may have them read to your people. Preserve 
them in your towns, refresh your memories 
with them from time to time, so that the remem- 
brance of them may never be lost, but may be 
handed down to your children. 

"Thos. Jefferson. 
"Apr. 11, 1806." 

After the report was read and explained, 
and the delegates had all finished speaking, the 
several leaders were permitted to speak. Chief 
Pawhuska and many other warriors spoke, and, 



62 Shinkah 

after all the others, came Ke-Stas (Snail), old- 
est of the Osage warriors. The marks of honor 
tattooed on his body indicated that he was the 
Keeper of the Honor Packs of War and hence a 
man of great power in the councils of the tribe 
and a warrior of greatest distinction ; the marks 
of extreme old age that he bore were of them- 
selves, however, sufficient to guarantee for him 
a respectful hearing. Silently he stood for some 
time and then slowly he let fall from his shoul- 
ders his panther skin robe; silently he stood be- 
fore the assembly for a long, long time. Then 
he spoke in measured tones as follows : 

"My children, many generations ago the 
Osage Indians came from the sun-rise-land seek- 
ing a hunting ground. When they came up the 
Missouri River to the mouth of the Osage River 
they ascended that stream to where this (Big 
Niangua) river flows into it. There on the hills 
overlooking the water-fall they camped. From 
this camp they could look over a hundred hills 
and valleys and see thousands of deer, elks, and 
buffaloes grazing, for the trees and brush did not 
then cover the Ozark Mountains as now. Tne 
Osage chief decided to live at that place. Dur- 
ing the life of that chief his iron will held the 
Osages in this home, but after his death the 



Big Spring Council 



63 



tribe scattered. Some of them went up the 
Osage River, some up this river, and others set- 
tled along the Gasconade. Not a day's journey 

from this place on 
the bank of this riv- 
er stands a great 
rock that in outline 
resembles the feat- 
ures of that great 
Chief. In memory 
of him the sages 
call it Neongwa. I 
was born a hundred 
years ago near that 
rock. All this time 
I have lived at the 
village founded by 
that steadfast chief- 
tain. At that vil- 
lage, I shall remain 
until the end, which 
now will soon come. If I were a young man, I 
should go on toward the setting sun, following 
the buffalo and avoiding the evil influence of the 
'Yankees.' I have spoken." 

Silence deep and long followed. Finally 
old Ke-Stas resumed his robe and left the tepee. 
As soon as he passed out Chief Pawhuska arose 




64 Shinkah 

and silently followed. Then all the council arose 
and in silence passed from the big tepee. Soon 
they were scattered into smaller groups and 
were again discussing this issue. 

For many days, the warriors in their coun- 
cil discussed the grave problems; the squaws at 
their work discussed the same questions. The 
greatest issue, however, in all these discussions 
was the one old Ke-Stas had discussed, i, e., 

"Shall the Osages mingle with the pale 
faces and do their bidding, or shall they move 
on toward sun-set-land, and leave their homes 
to the Yankees?" 

New Moon grew worse. Her illness puzzled 
everyone, even the oldest medicine-men of the 
tribe. She had no use of her lower limbs, but 
she was not very sick. As she could not walk, 
her brother carried her on his back wherever 
she wanted to go. One day she saw children 
playing on the high bank at the western end of 
the north bank of the Big Spring, and as she 
wished to join them Shinkah carried her the 
long half mile around. Carefully he seated her 
on a log so that she might see the games. Then 
he joined in the sport with the other children. 

Among these children was a boy, larger 
than any of the others, who delighted to knock 



Big Spring Council 65 

ihe smaller children over as he ran. Several 
times he knocked Shinkah over, and it was treat- 
ed as a joke. But finally he pushed New Moon 
from the log and Shinkah, no longer considering 
it a joke, attacked him. The larger boy was 
too strong for Shinkah, and conceived the 
idea of throwing his little assailant over the 
bank so that he would fall into the deep water. 
However, he succeeded only partially, for at the 
brink Shinkah held to him so firmly that both 
boys fell over together. Once in deep water, 
Shinkah's skill in swimming gave him a decided 
advantage, and he soon had the big boy at his 
mercy. Quickly the bully promised to go away 
and Shinkah's playmates all said "Good boy!" 
as he came back to them and the larger boy 
sneaked off through the woods. 

After a few days the Osages all went 
home except Shinkah's family, their medicine- 
man, and two families of relatives who stayed to 
help with the sick child. New Moon was grow- 
ing worse. After the two tribes of Indians had 
gone, Shinkah was told to stay away from camp 
all day so that there could be perfect quiet as 
New Moon was much worse, and, as a last effort 
the medicine-man was going to try the sweat 
bath for her. 



66 



Shinkah 



Shinkah went out into the forest alone. 
After shooting arrows at a squirrel several 
times he sat down by the trunk of a giant oak to 
wait till the game came down where he could be 
more certain of hitting it. In this he was dis- 
appointed for the squirrel skipped across among 
the topmost boughs to another tree. Then he 
found a hollow branch in which he could be safe 
from the boy's arrows. 



- - £< .-. 


>;'■. 


n 


jf 


4* 

A iff 





WHERE THE BIG SPRING RISES 



Shinkah silently stole away and hid under 
some broad-leafed paw-paw bushes that grew 
beneath the branches of a hackberry tree, but 
the squirrel went to sleep perhaps, at any rate 



Big Spring Council 67 

he did not come out. Tired of wating for the 
squirrel to reappear, the boy went down the 
bank of the Niangua River, removed his cloth- 
ing, and swam for a long time. After that, he 
lay under a cedar tree until his skin dried. Then 
resuming his clothing, he climbed a mulberry 
tree, and ate the choice berries while from a 
safe distance a bluejay cried "Thief !" "Thief!" 
When he had eaten all the berries he wanted he 
decided to go to the other side of the Big Spring. 
Crossing over a low ridge between the Niangua 
River and the Big Spring, he turned eastward 
and walked rapidly for nearly half a mile 
along by the Big Spring until he found a cool 
place beneath some sassafrass bushes that stood 
in the shade of a group of Linn trees. From this 
seclusion he watched a wild wood duck lead forth 
her brood of ten among the rushes, moss and 
water cress upon the Big Spring. Shy they 
were but most cunning. A long, long time he 
watched them. Finally the old duck led them 
across the Big Spring out of sight. By this time 
the boy was sleepy, and besides a heavy rain 
was coming on, so he went up above the spring 
and entered the great cave. Here with the other 
children he had often played. He went a long 
way back in the cool silent cave and there slept 



68 



Shinkah 




OSAGE TRAIL, THROUGH THE 
OZARK MOUNTAINS— NO- 
BODY KNOWS H( >\\ 
OLD 



for several hours. While he slept in security the 
rain poured outside, and at the tepee, the medi- 
cine-man announced that New Moon was dead. 
The next day on a high ridge overlooking 
the spring and the river, in a burial mound of 
stone, they left Shinkah's little sister, and sad- 
ly, through the wooded mountains, followed an 
old, old trail of the Osages — "nobody knows how 
old" — from the Big Spring to Neongwa Rock. 
From that point, they trailed their own tribe 
back toward Pawhuska's village to bear their 
sorrow as best they could, and to help to solve 
the problems of the Great Osages. 



Big Spring Council 69 



NOTES. 

The "Big Spring" mentioned in this chapter is now called 
Ha-Ha-Tonka Spring.. It is situated in the edge of Camden 
County, Missouri, about thirty miles north of Lebanon, in the 
heart of the Ozark Mountains. 

This spring rises from beneath a great rock two hundred 
tc el high. The basin of the spring proper covered twenty or 
thirty acres originally, now, however, aided by a small dam, 
it covers almost a hundred acres. The waters of this spring 
flow into the Niangua River. In this vicinity are many caves. 

"Yankee" — Osage Indian corruption of the word English. 

"Keeper of the Honor Packs of War," was a most important 
office in the tribe, usually hereditary. It was customary to tattoo 
the sign of this office on the breast of the keeper. 

"Sweat baths," among the Osages, were provided by pouring 
water over heated stones in a closed tepee in which the patient 
was confined. After the sweat the patient was usually plunged 
into cold water. 

Neongwa Rock is 95 feet high. The name "Neongwa," as 
well as the name "Niangua" are no doubt from Osage Ne, water, 
and augra, to fall, or waterfall. 

QUESTIONS. 
Tell about the Louisiana Purchase. Did the Indians have 
any part in the transfer of this territory? Why? What was the 
greatest problem before the Osages for their solution at this 
time? 



CHAPTER SIX. 

CAPTIVES. 

Day after day, the little band of mourners 
followed the wide trail of the Great Osages up 
the river valley, but they did not overtake them. 
When, on the second day after the arrival of the 
tribe, the belated ones came home, they were 
most kindly received, and sadly they told their 
sorrow and resumed their accustomed daily 
tasks. 

When he stayed about the lodge, Shinkah 
seemed to miss his sister more than when he 
was out in the forest, and, for that reason, if for 
no other, he was rarely in camp except at night. 
But the mother was less lonesome when Shinkah 
stayed with her than when she was all alone. 
The father, of course, must be about his daily 
duty, bringing in game. 

One afternoon in August, Shinkah, at his 
mother's urgent request, stayed at the lodge. He 
and his mother were talking while the latter was 
at work making a basket. Shinkah watched his 
mother as she deftly wove in the colored splints 
of wood forming the pretty design, and as they 
talked and talked the basket gradually grew. 



Captives 71 

All about the village could be heard the 
drowsy hum of voices as the squaws talked over 
their work — some making baskets, others shap- 
ing clay into pots and different kinds of cooking 
vessels, which they would afterward glaze or 
bake to make them ready for use about the 
home, and still others were making various ar- 
ticles of clothing or decorating garments with 
pretty beaded work. 

Out under a shade tree near the camp a 
few warriors, as guardians of the village, were 
quietly smoking. Once in a while a peal of laugh- 
ter arose somewhere, but the camp was most un- 
usually quiet. Not a leaf stirred in the 
tree tops while the sun's rays beat down like 
a deadening weight upon the village. Thus, 
hour after hour, the squaws worked on in the 
lodges, and the sun scorched everything outside 

Shinkah at last arose to go to the river, for 
there he knew the other boys were swimming 
in the cool, clear water. As he started from the 
lodge his mother looked up sadly from her work, 
but before she could speak, the sound of distant 
hoof-beats was heard rapidly approaching the 
village. At once the warriors out under the 
trees drew their weapons to them and disap- 
peared as if by magic — a dangerous guard if 



72 



Shinkah 




THE GASCONADE RIVER 



the traveler should prove to be a foe. Shinkah 
and his mother remained silent for a moment. 
Then high above the sounds in the village, arose 
the voice of the traveler as he called out in the 
Osage language: "The captives are coming!" At 
once the concealed warriors reappeared, and 
gladness instead of apprehension marked their 
brows. All the village was glad. By acclama- 
tion a feast was declared in order and then 
everybody helped prepare for the feast, and by 
and by, the captives came home. Home after 



Captives 73 

four years of bondage! Home with those who 
had mourned them as lost forever ! But not all 
of them came back home again — two were not 
among the living. They were warriors, and 
they had fallen as Osage warriors should fall, 
bravely fighting for their people. 

In spite of the joy of the homecoming, Shin- 
kah's mother was more sad than ever, for one or 
the two warriors who had not returned was her 
father. Shinkah was also grieved, in a way, but 
he could not remember this grandparent, or any 
of the other captives for that matter, so long- 
ago were they taken; hence, his grief was not 
so keenly felt as was his mother's. These cap- 
tives, four years previously to this time, had been 
taken by the Pottawatomie Indians on the west- 
ern plains. During an annual buffalo hunt a 
severe storm arose and some of the Osages be- 
came separated from the main tribe. Immedi- 
ately after the storm the Osages, who were sep- 
arated from the main tribe, were attacked by 
hostile Pottawatomies and those who were cap- 
tured had bsen kept as slaves until, by the 
friendly offices of the United States Govern- 
ment, they and many others, taken on other oc- 
casions, had been sent to Washington City and 
there released. The government had sent them 



74 Shinkah 

all home again, these and other Osages, as well 
as many Pawnee and Kansas Indians who had 
also been captives. 

When the captives from Pawhuska's village 
were again at home, and had told their story, the 
feast began. All the remainder of that day the 
Osages came to greet the returned Indians and 
to bring them presents. Singly and in groups 
they came ; hundreds and hundreds of them. At 
night, all danced upon the meadow by the light 
of a big camp fire. The next day, the returned 
captives found themselves the richest of the 
tribe, for their kindred and friends had brought 
for them the best of all their possessions — cloth- 
ing, cooking utensils, buffalo robes, blankets and 
shawls, ponies and provisions, so they, too, were 
indeed happy. 

It was soon known, in all the village, that 
the "Yankees" had caused these captives to be 
released, and many Osages began for the first 
time to wonder if there could be some good in 
the new people who wished to associate with the 
western Indians. It was also known that the 
man who had brought all these captives from 
Washington City was at that very time visiting 
among the western Indians, and would no doubt, 
visit this village soon. Not many weeks later. 



Captives 75 

word came that the great messenger from the 
Great Chief of the Yankees, the deliverer of the 
captives, (Zebulon M. Pike, then on his western 
exploring expedition), was approaching the vil- 
lage and accordingly Pawhuska and fifty of his 
warriors wished to meet their distinguished 
guests and escort them into the village. Shin- 
kah's father was one of these warriors. 

When at first it was announced that the 
"Yankees" were coming up the river in a boat 
and would halt to visit the village of Pawhuska, 
there was a division as to the duty of the Great 
Osages, but the advocates of open hospitality 
had the better arguments. Besides, discretion 
helped them, and it was decided to receive the 
distinguished visitors as guests of the tribe. 
When the appointed day came, Shinkah's father 
was one of the first to be chosen to serve as an 
escort for the "Yankees." 

Horses for the visitors to ride upon and also 
extra horses to bring their tents and supplies 
were taken by Pawhuska and his fifty warriors 
to the river and that afternoon, accompanied by 
Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike and his men as 
quests, the Osages came back to their village. 
Near the Indian village the white men pitched 
their tents as guests of the Indians. In this 



76 Shinkah 

vicinity they stayed for two weeks, holding- 
councils with the Great and Little Osages and 
with delegates from the Arkansas Osages; giv- 
ing to the Indians messages from Washington; 
collecting horses and guides for their western 
journey; and learning what they could from the 
Indians of the country farther to the west. 

During this visit Shinkah, for the first 
time in his life, had a chance to study the white 
men from personal observation. After careful 
observation, he was firmly convinced that the 
"Yankees" had hitherto been too harshly judged 
by the Osages. Many Osages at this time were 
of the same opinion, but others of the tribe 
stoutly affirmed that the "Yankees" could not be 
trusted. Those whose friends and relatives had 
been so recently restored defended the white 
men, and among these "friends of the paleface" 
Shinkah's father and mother were counted. 

When Lieutenant Pike and his party, leav- 
ing their boat on the upper Osage River, rode 
westward on their expedition, one of the volun- 
teer Osage scouts who accompanied them was 
none other than Shinkah's father. This time, 
however, all the Indians who went out as guides 
had guns which had been given them by their 
guests. Of these guns the warriors were justly 



Captives 77 

proud. Shinkah's mother, remembering the 
good offices of the "Yankees" in sending back 
the captives, was glad that her husband was go- 
ing to help in piloting the white men to the home 
of the Pawnee Indians. Shinkah's one request 
of his father was that he should find Beaver, in 
the land of the Pawnees, and say to him, "Shin- 
kah is well, but on account of the loss of his lit- 
tle sister, he is sad." 

Shinkah watched the stranger-guests ride 
away and with pride saw his father, bearing the 
gun and going on before them to help them 
across the dangers of the trackless plains, to help 
supply them with game, and to take a message 
to Beaver. 

The next day the Little Osages returned 
to their own homes as did also the visiting band 
of Arkansas Osages, and for two weeks all was 
quiet about Pawhuska's village. 

In a few weeks the Great Osage tribe went 
on their annual buffalo hunt, but Shinkah and 
his mother could not go. Several days after the 
hunters had gone on their annual buffalo hunt, 
there came back to the village two Osages who 
had started with Lieutenant Pike and his men 
and who said they had been so badly treated that 
they were obliged to leave the party. "So mean," 



78 Shinkah 

said they, "was the Yankee Chief that he kept 
our extra horses to carry his burdens, and took 
from us the new guns he had given us." 

Shinkah asked his mother if his father 
would come back soon and she said, "Your 
father is a true Osage. He will keep his prom- 
ises and guide the white men to the Pawnee vil- 
lage. Then he will come home, and bring his 
horses and gun with him." From her answer, 
the boy made up his mind that the returned 
Osages were worthless Indians, and he did not 
believe their story. Others, however, did believe 
them. 

Among the larger boys of the village, all 
save one had gone on the hunt. This boy had 
been much alone of late and Shinkah noting his 
strange conduct asked his mother about him. 
His mother said, "Did you ever notice his skin?" 
Shinkah knew at once from having noted the 
color of the boy's skin that he was a captive — a 
white boy — then, too, he remembered that dur- 
ing all the time Pike and his men were in the vil- 
lage this boy had been kept busy herding the 
ponies. He asked his mother many more ques- 
tions but could not get any more answers. He, 
therefore, decided to ask the boy himself. The 
next day, he went out to the pony herds to talk to 



Captives 79 

him. The other herd boys said that some ponies 
were missing, and that they had sent this boy to 
find them and bring them back. Two days later 
the ponies were found, hidden in the dense woods 
where they had been tied, but the boy and the 
pony he rode were nowhere to be seen. Then 
the two warriors who had returned from Pike's 
expedition left the village. Several days later, 
Shinkah saw the two warriors at home again 
He also saw the pony that the white captive had 
ridden, but whether the boy got away and re- 
turned to his people or what happened to him, 
Shinkah never found out for no one would talk 
about that — not even his mother. 

By and by, the sages came back with the 
supplies from the buffalo hunt. It had been a 
long hunt. They had followed the herds far to 
the south and clashed with their enemies, the 
Comanche Indians, but had been victorious. 
They had brought several Comanche captives. 
Among the captives was a little girl only about 
four years old. Shinkah's mother was very at- 
tentive and very kind to this little girl. Shinkah. 
remembering his own little sister, was also kind 
to the little captive Comanche girl. 

One afternoon as Shinkah and his mother 
were bringing home nuts from the forest they 



80 Shinkah 

saw an Osage warrior riding toward the village 
ahead of them. He rode a jaded horse and three 
other tired ponies followed him. He also 
carried a gun. The quick second glance told 
mother and son at once who rode the jaded horse, 
and lashing their ponies, they soon caught up 
with the head of their family returning alone 
from his long and very arduous labor. 

So tired were the horses of the traveler that 
the one he rode could hardly have gone a mile 
farther, and the others were not in much better 
condition. All bore the marks of hard usage. 
Exhausted the warrior entered his lodge, and in 
silence ate the food his squaw placed before 
him, and then he slept. 

On the following day Chief Pawhuska him- 
self came to see the now distinguished scout, 
and Shinkah again and again heard how his 
father had helped the "great hearted but rash 
chief" across the plains to the Pawnee villages, 
and well on his way westward beyond the Paw- 
nee country. How two of the Osages had de- 
serted and a third one had died at his duty, thus 
leaving him as the only Osage and how Pike had 
rewarded his services, the boy heard his father 
relate. 



Captives 81 

As to General Pike the warrior scout con- 
cluded by saying: "Where he is going no one 
can tell unless he is seeking death in the deep 
snows of the great mountains. He is a good man. 
His people are good people. They are reckless 
and ignorant of the ways of the plains, but they 
are true and brave." Pawhuska agreed with 
the warrior in thinking that the explorers would 
certainly perish if they went on into the great 
mountains in winter time, or, if by chance, they 
crossed the mountains, their fate would inevit- 
ably be captivity. As to the goodness and the 
bravery of the white men, the chief was silent. 

Shinkah's father did not leave the lodge for 
several weeks. Day after day, the medicine- 
man came. At night Shinkah often heard his 
father coughing, then his mother, after giving 
her husband the tea she had brewed from white 
plantain leaves to relieve his cough, would sit 
silently by the sick warrior through the night 
while the fever and the cough annoyed him, and 
while Shinkah again slept peacefully. After the 
cough and fever had left him, the warrior rap- 
idly recovered, but the deep snow and severe 
weather kept him in the lodge for a long time. 

Shinkah never wearied of looking at the gun 
and the big medal that Lieutenant Pike had 



82 Shinkah 

given his father, or of hearing the latter tell of 
the journey. One regret the boy had that he 
could not forget — his father had not seen 
Beaver. The village to which they had gone 
among the Pawnees was not the one in which 
Beaver lived. 

General Pike had given praise to the Osage 
scout, and also the gun and a medal, besides an 
order for one hundred and fifty dollars worth of 
merchandise payable by the Indian Agent at 
Saint Louis. The order specified that this was 
to pay for his services as scout on this expedi- 
tion. 

One day when the sun shone warm and 
bright on the snowdrifts, Shinkah was playing 
by the south side of the lodge near the door and 
overheard a conversation that greatly interested 
him, though, indeed, he was not expected to hear 
this conversation. So quiet had he been for a 
long time, that perhaps his parents thought him 
farther away from the lodge. The conversation 
was about the little captive Comanche girl. 

"All troubles I have borne in silence," said 
his mother. "Shinkah will soon follow the chase 
and I shall be all alone. Let me have this little 
one in New Moon's place; I shall not ask more, 
You are a great hunter, and have honor among 



Captives 83 

the Osages and the 'Yankees' also. Give me 
this one request? Then when our son goes with 
you on the chase I shall have someone to be a 
companion for me." A silence followed; then 
the deep voice of the warrior said, "Well." 

Silently the father left the lodge, and Shin- 
kah saw him enter the lodge of Chief Paw- 
huska. The boy knew that his father had gone 
to the Chief to say that he wished to adopt the 
captive, and in some way the emotions of sor- 
row and joy struggled for mastery in the breast 
of the little Osage boy. 

Soon after this, Shinkah's father made a 
feast for the head men of the tribe, at which 
time he publicly requested to be allowed to adopt 
the Comanche girl in the place of the little girl 
he had lost, and the request was granted. When 
the time for the ceremonial adoption came and 
all the leaders were seated in the great lodge, the 
captive was placed at the back of the lodge — in 
the seat of strangers. From this place she was 
led from one to another in the ceremony until 
she had traversed the circle of the council. Then 
she drew one puff from the pipe filled with cedar 
bough and stood forth not as a captive Coman- 
che, but as an Osage girl, daughter of an Osage 
warrior. When the council arose from its sit- 



84 Shinkah 

ting, the little girl was led to Shinkah's mother 
who in tears of silent joy and sorrow pressed the 
child to her bosom and called her dear daughter ; 
and the child was not afraid any more. The 
council of warriors had decided that she should 
live, and the only one among all the Osages who 
had been kind to her had now given her a home 
and called her daughter. 

N( >TES. 

In the expedition of Zebulon M. Pike, edited by Elliott 
Coues, Vol. 11, Page 381-382, may be found a report of the return 
of some Osage prisoners. At page 385-395 of the same volume 
may be found an account of Pike's visit to Pawhuska's village. 
Pike stayed fcr two weeks within the present boundaries of 
Osage township, Vernon County. Missouri, August, 1806. See 
Holcomb's History of Vernon County, Missouri. 

For a full account Of the Osage ceremony of adoption, see 
Twenty-seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American 
Ethnology, page 61-62. 

QUESTK »NS. 
How did the Osages make baskets? Describe White-Hair's 
(Pawhuska's) Village. What caused Shinkah's father to be- 
friend the white men? Why did he adopt the little Comanche 
girl? What was Pike's Expedition? 



CHAPTER SEVEN. 




AWAY FROM HOME. 

When win- 
ter was end- 
ed, the fath- 
e r resumed 
his usual 
tasks. Rapid- 
1 y then the 
readjust- 
ments in the little family were made. Instinc- 
ively, as he grew larger and older, the boy be- 
came more and more interested in his father's 
life and as the mother became greatly attached 
to the little girl, she grew more nearly recon- 
ciled to the necessity of the absence of Shinkah 
from the lodge. Day after day, the boy went 
away from home to hunt; gradually his jour- 
neys became longer and longer. 

Often Shinkah hunted near his father, and 
whenever he heard the well known report of his 
father's gun, he ran to help with the game. 
Occasionally, the father allowed Shinkah to ac- 
company him on the hunt. On such occasions, 
the boy really felt that he was growing in power 



86 Shinkah 

and importance. Sometimes while they sat rest- 
ing, or waiting in the forest for game to appear, 
his father told him of the ways of the wild 
creatures and of the various hunting grounds of 
the Osages. Occasionally he told the boy of 
other tribes and of strange people who lived to- 
ward the sunrise. Gradually in the natural 
course of events the boy and father began to be 
thrown in company with each other and to be- 
come companions. 

That summer the father announced one 
evening that the family would soon go to Saint 
Louis to get the merchandise due him from the 
Indian Agent. The next day preparations for 
the journey began, and Shinkah helped faith- 
fully until the camp outfit was ready and the 
ponies stood in the pen by the lodge. 

At sunrise on the following morning, the 
four Osages — Shinkah, his father and mother 
and the adopted girl — all the family — rode 
away, down the valley of the Osage River, camp- 
ing at night and going forward each morning. 
Shinkah rode a "free pony" (one without travois 
attached), and acted as scout while his father 
rode far aside each day and brought in game at 
evening. Day after day the boy rode on ahead 
to spy out the trail (which of course was 



Away From Home 87 

an old and familiar route) . His heart was filled 
with pride because now it seemed that his serv- 
ices were of real worth. All day long the mother 
and daughter rode straight forward with the 
camp supplies; every evening around the camp 
they all talked of the many articles they would 
buy, and of the wonderful things they would 
see at Saint Louis. 

At the mouth of the Osage River, they 
rested for two days, and then, with provisions 
enough for the remainder of their journey, they 
rode forward down the Missouri River valley. 
This time the father went on ahead as scout, for 
the trail at this place was not familiar to the 
boy. 

After a few days, they camped by Saint 
Louis, "village of the pale face," and Shinkah 
saw the lodges of the "Yankees," their "big 
canoes" on the river, and their "rolling travois", 
in which, on wide well worn trails, they carried 
immense loads. These things were matters of 
great concern to the little boy, but the "lodge" 
of the Indian Agent was indeed most interesting 
to him. Here were beautiful blankets, cooking 
utensils (that would not break), cloth of all 
kinds, besides many things that to the boy's 
mind were strange and very wonderful. 



88 Shinkah 

On the following morning the family went 
to the Indian Agent's store for supplies. Hesi- 
tatingly they examined the wares and many 
times they asked for what purposes articles 
were used. As the agent could speak the Osage 
language they were able to ask many questions. 

When the agent offered to sell them a clock, 
explaining that it was an instrument by which to 
tell the time of day, they were quite amused. 
"No, we want nothing of the sort," said the 
mother, "not while the sun shines by day and 
the stars by night. We know the time always. 
Sell us something useful." But they finally 
made purchases — many of them. Three times 
during the day the mother and daughter re- 
turned to camp to carry the supplies they had 
bought and the agent said there was yet a bal- 
ance due. In order to take up this balance Shin- 
kah chose a bridle for his pony. Osages used a 
raw-hide strap which they fastened to the pony's 
jaw for a bridle but the boy had seen the bridles 
used by Lieutenant Pike and his men and 
wanted to learn to use one. His father per- 
mitted the purchase, not so much because he 
wished the boy to have the bridle or thought he 
needed it but rather to end what to him had been 
a tedious task — shopping. 



Away From Home 89 

For the fourth and last time therefore the 
mother and daughter carried purchases to the 
camp and this time the father and son accom- 
panied them. 

When they came to their camp the father 
sat down, on a blanket beneath a tree, for a 
quiet smoke; the mother and daughter un- 
wrapped all their purchases and talked and 
talked about the uses of the various articles. 
Shinkah, entering the tepee, ate some cold roast 
venison, and then going to the bag of sugar they 
had purchased, and opening it, ate unrestrained, 
until he did not care for more. Soon he w T ent 
with his new bridle to where his pony was stand- 
ing in the shade of some trees, and tried to 
adjust the bridle so as to fit the pony, but at this 
task he was not very successful. Finally, how- 
ever, the bridle was on the pony's head so that 
it would not fall off and the boy mounted for a 
ride. The pony was not used to such guidance 
and backed from the bit until the rider became 
quite angry and used a lash vigorously. After 
an hour or more the boy, concluding that he un- 
derstood the use of the bridle, rode up to the 
camp to show his father how well he could man- 
age. The old Indian, however, had ridden with 
Pike and his men for months and at once per- 



90 Shinkah 

ceived that the boy had put the bridle on back- 
wards. Without scolding the boy or ridiculing 
him in any way the father arose and taking the 
bridle off of the pony adjusted it and placed it 
on properly. Then he gave the reins to his son 
and resumed his smoking. No one else ever 
knew of Shinkah's mistake. 

By and by, the sun sank below the western 
horizon and Shinkah released his pony. Then 
the boy sought his blankets in the tepee where 
the other members of the family were already 
resting. There he slept soundly all night. 

As the sun shot its early rays through the 
forest and lighted their camp the next morning 
the boy's mother awoke him to eat his breakfast 
and accompany his father again to the "big vil- 
lage", St. Louis. The mother and daughter re- 
mained to prepare for the homeward journey 
on the morrow. 

All day long the boy followed his father, 
who, clad in buckskin and wearing a beaver skin 
cap, strode through the city with his trusty 
rifle lying conveniently in the hollow of his left 
arm while his strong right hand was free to 
bring the deadly weapon to a firing position in 
an instant. The eagjle eyes of the old scout 
silently saw every passing object as noislessly 



Away From Home 



!)1 



his moccasined feet moved over the city and close 
behind him, bow in hand and a quiver of ar- 
rows at his back, Shinkah followed noiselessly 
but filled with curiosity. Generally they fol- 
lowed the movement of the crowd. There were 
hi the crowd, among whom they moved, all kinds 
of people— military officers in bright uniforms, 
trappers and voyageurs in buckskin carrying 
their long rifles, laborers at work, teamsters 
hauling heavy loads, river men from the boats, 
and Indians from various tribes. 

Once they went into a building where many 
people came to send or to receive what to the In- 
dians seemed to be little white packages. Upon 
inquiring, however, they learned that this place 
was called a Post Office and that these people 
were really sending messages similar to the one 
that the Osages had received from the great 
paleface chief at Washington. The boy and 
his father were wrapped in wonder at the wis- 
dom and ingenuity of these people. 

At another time the older Indian stopped 
before a dwelling (the old Chouteau Mansion) 
and told his son that he had seen this wonderful 
lodge long, long ago; that its builder was a great 
man— a Frenchman, friend of the Osages, 



92 Shinkah 

When this lodge was built, he told his son, there 
were only a few lodges in the villages. 

Late in the afternoon the old scout turned 
from the paths followed by the throng and with 
a steady swinging stride went to a mound that 
stood partly within the city. Silently he as^ 
cended the mound and silently Shinkah followed.. 
For a long time they stood on the mound and 
gazed far away in various directions. Then the 
father sat down on the ground and the son did 
likewise ; but no word was spoken. Finally the 
father in measured tones spoke as follows : 

"Shinkah, this place was once the home of 
the Osages. Now all around it you see a village 
of perhaps ten times ten hundred people and two 
hundred big lodges. My parents often visited 
this place before I was born. Once they were 
camped here with many other Osages when a 
Frenchman came from down the river to build 
a trading post. My mother helped to carry the 
dirt away in her basket when they dug their 
first "cache" (cellar) and she received her pay 
in beads. This mound, once sacred to our peo- 
ple is now in the hands of the "Yankees." 

"The French were always friends of our 
people, and we are their friends. Now the French 
no longer hold this country, but the "Yankees" 



Away From Home 93 

own it. However, these "Yankees" are a good 
people and great. We must be their friends. 

"All things seem to be changing. Be very 
careful in dealing with strange people. I have 
spoken." 

For some moments longer they sat but 
neither spoke* 

Silently the warrior arose and descended 
from the mound, and silently through the gath- 
ering gloom he moved along the streets, his 
trusty rifle lying conveniently across his arms, 
and his piercing eyes quietly seeing all. So- 
lently behind, bow in hand, followed Shinkah. 
pondering upon the wonderful things he had 
seen, and the words of wisdom his father had 
spoken. 

Next morning when the sun looked down 
upon Saint Louis and its busy throng, the four 
Osages were riding through the green forests up 
the Missouri River valley westward — home- 
ward. The travois of the mother and daughter 
were loaded with their new possessions. Shin- 
kah acted as guide, and the father hunted. When 
they came to Pawhuska's village, the strange 
things they had brought were considered the 
wonders of the tribe. 

In the autumn of the next year, 1808, a 



94 Shinkah 

call was made for a conference of Osage war- 
riors with Governor Merriwether Lewis at Fort 
Clark. Fort Clark was situated on the banks 
of the Missouri River about ten miles below 
where Kansas City, Missouri, was afterwards 
built. Merriwether Lewis was then governor of 
Louisiana Territory and at this conference he 
was to represent the United States Government. 

As the years went by Shinkah became 
Shinto-Shinkah, i. e„ he had grown until he 
could not be called child, but man-child or 
youth — Shinto-Shinkah. He was regularly rec- 
ognized as beyond the stage of childhood. 

By the time of the Fort Clark Council 
therefore Shinto-Shinkah was large enough that 
his father left him to care for the family inter- 
ests while he himself attended the council with 
Pawhuska and the other chosen warriors. 

When, late in November, the Osage war- 
riors returned from Fort Clark, the report they 
brought home was not pleasing. They had 
agreed to give up their old homes and move west- 
ward. All lands in Missouri and Arkansas, 
lying west of a line running due south from 
Fort Clark, were to be forever relinquished, and 
lands in Kansas were to be accepted as the per- 
manent homes of the Osages. The remunera- 



Away From Home 95 

tion, however, was considered by the Osages to 
be of such value as to repay in a measure the 
loss sustained in this move. Besides, this move 
or a similar move had for some time appeared, 
even to the Osages, a necessity. 

It was night when Shinto-Shinkah's father 
returned from the conference at Fort Clark, and 
the next morning the boy was early on duty 
herding the ponies of the tribe, hence he did not 
have an opportunity to talk to his father until 
the second day. Then he learned of the treaty, 
and also learned something of the details of the 
conference. On that autumn afternoon the herd 
boys returned to the village driving all the pon- 
ies. In so doing, they were following instruc- 
tions, too, for the various bands of Osages were 
going to move out to winter quarters on the fol- 
lowing day. The bands separated and went to 
their various winter camps. Shinto-Shinkah 
went with the band to which his family be 
longed, acting as herd-boy or helping the hunt- 
ers. Their camp that winter was on the Gas- 
conade River. It was a good camp, around 
which game was abundant and the youth hunted 
with the men and sometimes played with the 
children. 



96 Shinkah 

During this winter, Shinto-Shinkah often 
hunted with his father. Late one afternoon, 
when the two had finished a successful day's 
hunt, as the boy sat by his father on the banks of 
the river, the latter told him of the future 
changes that must come. "Shinto-Shinkah," said 
the father, "we shall not often come to this place 
in the future. As all the Osages know, we have 
given this land to the great chief at Washington 
for his tribe of people and we must move west- 
ward. As it is now, we go with the good-will 
and help of the 'Yankee' tribe, but we should 
have been compelled to go if we had not agreed 
to the change. You will soon grow to be a man 
and will follow the chase. Perhaps you will 
travel the red warpath while I shall soon grow 
old and pass away. Remember the words I now 
speak to you, my only son. Never tell lies to a 
friend. Never steal, except from enemies. 
Never betray a friend. Provide meat for your 
family. Defend your hunting grounds. Resent 
insult. Do not fear death. Fear evil spirits. 
Love and adore the Great Spirit. Your sun is 
rising. My sun is going down in the west. It 
will soon be night with me. I have spoken." 

As they sat by the river the waters rolled 
gently on, and the sun sank silently. In the 



Away From Home 97 

gloaming the two Osages, without again speak- 
ing, arose, and bearing their loads of peltries, 
walked off through the dark forest to their camp. 
Before this band of Osages returned to their 
permanent village, Shinto-Shinkah's father sold 
all the peltries to a trader, and among other 
things he bought, was a rifle for his son. 

Never again did they make a winter camp 
east of their permanent village, which was situ- 
ated not far from the western boundary of the 
lands they had ceded. But on the streams in 
the western Ozark Mountains, Shinto-Shinkah 
and his father hunted in winter, and when either 
rifle spoke the other hunter felt sure that one 
more was added to their count of game. 

When the Great Osages were at last con- 
senting, band by band, to leave their old home 
forever and to move to new hunting grounds in 
Kansas, the council was called into session one 
day to hear the greatest of red warriors, Te- 
cumseh. This great Shawnee chieftain had come 
among the Osages to persuade them to unite 
with the Shawnee and other Indian tribes in a 
final effort to drive back the "Yankees." A great 
tepee was prepared when the Shawnee came to 
Pawhuska's village. Here in all the village the 
Shawnee chieftain and his companions were 



98 Shinkah 

feasted for several days and then the Osage 
chieftain called all his warriors to the big tepee 
to sit in council with Tecumseh. 

On the appointed day, Pawhuska and Te- 
cumseh entered the council tepee as brothers 
and sat side by side on a bear skin rug at the 
head of the council, and around the tepee run- 
ning right and left from the two chieftains the 
warriors arrayed themselves according to their 
respective rank. The council was thus formed 
into a huge circle. In silence they sat for some 
minutes, then Pawhuska lighted the pipe of 
friendship and passed it to his brother chieftain, 
Tecumseh, and from him it passed around the 
great circle and rested at Pawhuska's feet. 
Then at a sign from Pawhuska, Tecumseh, the 
great Shawnee warrior, arose and addressed the 
council as follows: 

"Brothers, we are all of one family — red 
children of the Great Spirit. We are friends 
threatened with a common evil — being driven 
from our hunting grounds and the graves of our 
fathers by deceitful white men. These white 
men came to our land feeble and starving, and 
our fathers helped them. Like serpents now 
these same men, grown strong upon the hospi- 
tality of our land, seek to strike us with poison- 



Away From Home 99 

ous fangs. They are not now, nor have they 
ever been, friends of the Indians. They pro- 
pose to drive us from our homes or kill us, tribe 
by ti'ibe. 

"As you know, once there was no land and 
no light. The Great Spirit gave light to all. To 
the white men he gave their homes as to the red 
men their homes. The white men cheat us — 
they are our enemies, they have insulted us. My 
people want revenge — they desire the blood of 
the white men. My people are many — a thou- 
sand warriors — brave warriors. United we can 
hold our rights, and drive back our common 
enemies. But if the Osages will not help us, the 
white men will destroy us, and, next in turn, 
destroy the Osages, who then will have no one 
to help them. We must unite. We must love the 
Great Spirit who is for us, and, in the end, we 
can win. I have spoken." 

Seeing many of his w T arriors ready to agree 
with Tecumseh, Pawhuska adjourned the coun- 
cil. Heated discussions followed, but after a 
few days of debating and deliberating, the coun- 
cil reconvened and a decision was made to keep 
the pledge of the Osages to the United States 
Government. Then Tecumseh, disappointed, 
went away. A few months later, at the battle of 



100 Shinkah 

Tippecanoe, Tecumseh's dream of successfully 
resisting the white man vanished. Three years 
later, in the battle on the Thames River, he him- 
self fell fighting against the United States Gov- 
ernment — thus ended the Shawnees' hope. 
After this the remaining bands of Osages were 
urged to move on into Kansas, and finally they 
all agreed to do so. 

At last, all the Osages of Shinto-Shinkah's 
band were ready to leave their old homes, never 
to return. It was at this time that Shinto-Shin - 
kah, who had proven himself a great hunter, al- 
though only in his early teens, was admitted to 
the council, and with the warriors smoked the 
pipe as man, warrior, or, in the Osage language, 
"Ne-Koh." 

Soon the band, with all their earthly pos- 
sessions, rode west one morning away from 
home. As they rode they looked back at their 
old home. By and by, they could distinguish no 
other feature of the landscape but the outline of 
their dear old Blue Mound — sacred place of 
their fathers. As they rode farther and farther 
out over the prairie, the horizon back of them 
seemed to follow on and on until only the morn- 
ing sun marked the location of the homes they 
were leaving. Slowly the sun, too, moved west- 



Away From Home 101 

ward. As the sages rode on and on ever due 
westward over the limitless plains, the sun 
moved slowly around until it hung low over the 
new hunting grounds toward which they were 
journeying. 

Then, in a green valley, by a stream, arose 
the tepees. Soon the scouts and hunters began 
to come into camp. As the sun disappeared be- 
yond the western horizon, a young Osage war- 
rior, well mounted and well armed, rode back, 
last of the red warriors to return. Giving his 
tired horse into the care of the herd boys, he re- 
ported to his father, who was in command, that 
for twenty miles westward no signs of enemies 
were visible. Thus ended the first day's mili- 
tary service of the young man who, as a child 
was called Shinkah ; as a youth, Shinto-Shinkah, 
and whom we must now call man or Nekoh. 



102 Shinkah 



NOTES. 

August Chouteau came from New Orleans to erect a trading 
post at the present site of Saint Louis in 1764, and found Osage 
Indians living there. When the French dug their first cellar at 
their new post, the Osage squaws (women) carried away the 
dirt in baskets and were paid in beads. See Historic Towns of 
the Western States, Powell, pp. 331-361. 

The Post Office was established in Saint Louis in 1804. 

An old mound at Saint Louis (removed 1869), caused Saint 
Louis, at one time, to be called ]V.'ound City. 

In 1804 there were in Saint Louis one hundred and eighty 
houses of hewn logs and stone, and a population of 10,304. — 
Historic Towns of the Western States, edited by Lyman P. 
Powell, pp. 384. 

The famous Chouteau Mansion at Saint Louis was built for 
Laclede in 1764. — Historic Cities of the Western States, pp. 336. 

Tecumseh's cause was presented to the Osages in a speech 
reproduced from memory by Hunter in his "Memoirs of a Cap- 
tive Among the Indians of North America." Published by Long- 
man & Company, London, in 1823. 

Tecumseh's brother, "The Prophet," lost the battle of 
Tippecanoe upon the issue of which he hazarded the cause of 
the Shawnees and their allies, 1811. Tecumseh fought with the 
British in the War of 1812 and fell at the battle of the Thames, 
1813. 

Missouri was organized as a territory in 1813. 

For an account of the esteem in which Osage Indians held 
the French, see "Historie De La Tribu Des Osages," — M. P. V. 
Paris, 1827. 

"Ne-Koh" is an Osage word meaning man. 

QUESTIONS. 

Locate the Gasconade River; Ozark Mountains. Why did the 
Osages give up their homes in Missouri and remove to new 
homes in Kansas? Why did they not help Tecumseh and the 
Shawnee Indians? 



CHAPTER EIGHT. 



OTHER LANDS. 

The permanent home select- 
ed by these Indians was in the 
valley of the upper Osage 
River in what was afterwards 
known as Osage County, Kan- 
sas. Here Nekoh lived with 
Br ^P his father for some time after 

their arrival from their old 
Missouri home. During this 
time, Nekoh was industrious 
in hunting and in accumulat- 
ing property, The property of 
the Indians consisted, in the main, of ponies. 
These were captured from enemies or obtained 
in exchange for fruits of the chase. Of course 
there was a natural increase of the pony herds. 
One clay when returning from a very suc- 
cessful hunt, Nekoh's father said to him, "You 
are a good hunter; you are a warrior; you are 
a man; you should have a mate. Your mother 
and I have talked over this matter and I have 
talked with old Red Corn. He has many daugh- 




104 Shinkah 

ters. All of them have been given in marriage 
save the youngest one, who is comely and indus- 
trious. It is well that you take her to wife." 
Nekoh made no reply but a few days later he led 
two beautiful spotted ponies near the tepee of 
Red Corn, tied them to a tree and withdrew. 

On the next day when Nekoh passed near 
the tepee of old Red Corn, he noted that the 
ponies had been removed from the tree where 
they had been tied and this indicated that the 
relatives of the girl had been consulted and the 
gifts accepted. 

When Nekoh returned to his own home and 
told his parents what had occurred, they at once 
began preparations for the wedding and within 
two days the nuptial ceremonies were held. 

On the wedding day, the bride was escorted 
to the groom's home by the women of her imme- 
diate family. She was seated upon a large robe 
in the middle of the tepee and then Nekoh was 
found, led forth, and seated by her side. Thus 
seated together, the friends and relatives waited 
for the sign of agreement between the two 
which was made by each partaking of food that 
had been prepared for them. In this instance 
there was no waiting but each began at once 
to eat the food spread before them and in this 



Other Lands 105 

the guests all joined. When all had eaten of the 
food, the wedding ceremony was considered com- 
pleted. Then gifts were presented, after which 
the guests withdrew. 

For a year or more after this Nekoh and 
his bride lived with Nekoh's parents but after the 
birth of their first child, the young couple went 
to live in their own tepee. They lived thus in 
the Osage Reservation quietly and contentedly 
for many years. The warrior sat in council 
with his clan, rode in the big chase of the buffalo 
or quietly hunted up and clown the valley of the 
Osage River. The squaw cooked the food, 
dressed the hides and cultivated the crops. Chil- 
dren came to bless their home and they were 
prosperous in every way. 

Gradually, however, the buffalo herds were 
driven farther and farther away by the ever ap- 
proaching settlements of the white man. In 
those • days the great prairie schooners rolled 
ponderously over the Santa Fe Trail and white 
men were continually slaughtering the herds of 
buffalo until the Osages, in order to get their 
winter meats, had to go far to the Southwest. 

In these hunting expeditions they fre- 
quently came in contact with other plains tribes 
of Indians and sharp encounters ensued. 



106 Shinkah 

Thus they lived, labored, suffered and 
rejoiced, until Nekoh's sons in turn became 
hunters and warriors. Ever the range of their 
hunting extended farther and farther, and ever 
the pressure of white civilization and encroach- 
ment bore upon them harder and harder. 

Once when they were hunting in the South- 
west, near the Wichita Mountains, they came 
upon a Kiowa Indian Camp. The Kiowas fled 
and the Osages pursued. Nekoh was in com- 
mand of part of this expedition that gave pur- 
suit to the fleeing Kiowas. The band of Kiowas, 
which he and his fellow Osages were trailing, 
thinking they had eluded their pursuers, halted 
at Otter Creek, a point just west of Saddle 
Mountain in the Wichita range, some twenty 
miles or more northwest of where Fort Sill- 
Oklahoma, is now located. The fleeing Kiowas 
were tracked at night. The scouts gave the in- 
formation that in the camp were many women 
snd children. But nevertheless they were 
Kiowas — enemies — and must be slain. So Ne- 
koh and his band joined the general advance. 
Silently in the night the warriors crept on foot, 
ever nearer and nearer the sleeping camp of 
their enemies. Cautiously they moved, silently 
as shadows among the rocks but unerringly ad- 



Other Lands 107 

vancing, nearer and nearer the enemies. At 
dawn they were almost in striking distance 
when a young Kiowa warrior sounded the warn- 
ing— "Tso-Vatso ! Tso-Vatso!" "To the rocks! 
to the rocks !" shouted the fleeing Kiowas as the 
Osage warriors sprang forward with arrows, 
spears and knives. 

In that early dawn, in the wild panic 
stricken flight of old men, women and children, 
protected by only a few warriors, the Kiowas 
made what resistance they could but most of 
them fell and were beheaded by their captors. 

Nekoh tried to avoid what to him seemed to 
be wasting time with the slaughter of women 
and children. He did not desire to take any 
captives but followed after the warriors where- 
ever they could be found. Twice he was suc- 
cessful in bringing down his man and then in a 
third attempt when he had wounded a Kiowa 
warrior, an arrow from the pursued pierced 
the thigh of the pursuer, disabling him for life. 
The two Kiowa heads were to him some compen- 
sation for the suffering which he must endure 
but were very little real help to him in the crip- 
pled condition that his maimed limb left him. 

In the following year, 1834, a council of 
the western tribes was called at Fort Gibson, 



108 Shinkah 

and a permanent peace was concluded whereby 
the western Indian tribes and the white hunters 
could freely pass through the Indian hunting 
grounds. 

After this the Osages could pass through 
their hunting grounds without fear of having 
any trouble with other tribes but Nekoh could 
only go on horse-back. He was a cripple and 
fast becoming an old man. 

By the time of the Civil War, Nekoh was 
indeed an old man — too old to have much to do 
with the activities of his tribe but in the council 
his voice was against the participation of the 
Osage Nation in any quarrel between the states 
of the North and South. Always he felt, and 
frequently he said, "The Osages must again with- 
draw from the ever encroaching civilization of 
the white-man." When in 1868 a treaty was 
held at the Council Grounds of the Osage Nation 
in the State of Kansas on what was called Drum 
Creek, his voice was one to advise the acceptance 
of a permanent home for the Osages in the In- 
dian Territory. By the terms of this treaty all 
the lands of these Indians in Kansas were sold 
and the Osages moved to their last home — the 
Osage Reservation, Indian Territory. 

When the Nation moved south to their new 



Other Lands 109 

home, poor old Nekoh and his aged wife, guided 
by their stalwart sons, accompanied his people 
to their new home and were once more free from 
the encroaching civilization of the "pale-face." 
Here once more he enjoyed the uninterrupted 
society of his own people, and lived in quiet 
and contentment. 

The central village of the Osages erected in 
this new land was called "Pawhuska" (White- 
Hair) — the name of the village in which as 
"Little Shinkah", Nekoh had lived long, long ago 
in his old Missouri home by the Osage River. 
The village is located in a valley, surrounded by 
hills that rise high above it. A "big lodge" was 
erected at this village and many of the ancient 
rites and ceremonies of the tribe were re-estab- 
lished. 

By the cottage of one of his sons, old Nekoh 
erected his own tepee and here, day after day, he 
sat silently smoking or, perchance, talking of 
the olden days, telling his grandchildren of the 
days when as a boy he paddled his little canoe 
on the Osage River, or hunted in the deep forests 
at his winter home ; relating how he had hunted 
in the Ozark Mountains or along the Niangua 
and Gasconade Rivers ; repeating the story of the 
great Council at Big Spring. Sometimes 'he 



no 



Shinkah 




OSAGE HATCHET, PIPES AND TOBACCO POUCH 

would exhibit to them the letter of the "Chief of 
the Yankees" (Thomas Jefferson) which was 
read at the Big Spring Council. This letter he 
had secured and now retained. At other times, 
he would tell them of the wild rides after the flee- 
ing buffaloes across the rolling prairies of the 
west, or of the red war paths which he had fol- 
lowed. Thus as an old man, he sat, among his 
descendants, living in the past; remembering the 
traditions and experiences of his people, and 
fearing for the institutional life of his nation; 
prophesying that when the Osages could not 
again retreat from the civilization of the "white- 
man", their institutional life and their tradi- 



Other Lands 111 

tions would be lost — swallowed up by white 
civilization and perhaps forgotten by posterity, 
If you should visit Osage County in Okla- 
homa, which was erected from the old Osage 
Nation, you would find the city of Pawhuska 
Out from the business center you would find the 
" Pawhuska" village of the Osages. There you 
would find a great lodge in which some of the 
rites and ceremonies of the Osage Indians are 
still preserved. But true to the prophesy of old 
Nekoh their institutional life, traditions, and 
history, all are disappearing and only in the 
memories of the most aged Osages or in the 
archives of white men, is there preserved a full 
account of the life of the Osage Indians as it 
was generations ago. 

NOTES. 

Marriages among the Osages were arranged by the parents. 
Frequently the young people were not even acquainted. Sel- 
dom was there any courtship preceding these marriages. .Mar- 
riages were usually at an early age and in olden times the 
brides were obtained by purchase. 

For a fuller account of the Battle of Saddle Mountain, see 
Dickerson's "History of the Osages", pp. 23-25. The Osages 
beheaded their captives instead of scalping them. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where is Ft. Sill, Oklahoma? Where are the Wichita Moun- 
tains? The Ozark Mountains? Where is Osage County. Okla- 
homa? Pawhuska, Oklahoma? 



U2 Shinkah 



OSAGE INDIANS. 

Name. The word Osage is a corruption by the French 
traders of "Wazhazhe", the name by which these Indians desig- 
nated their own people. 

Cosmology. The Cosmology of the Osages, according to 
J. O. Dorsey indicates that the beings which ultimately became 
man, were originated in the lowest of the four upper worlds. 
Ascending through these four stages these beings obtained 
souls and were known as "Osages." Their cosmology postu- 
lates that from this upper world they descended to earth and 
were divided into different factions or gens. 

History. The Osage Indians are the most important branch 
of the Southern Siouan Tribe of the Western division. Dorsey 
classes them in one group with the Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, and 
Quapaw. These five tribes undoubtedly at one time constituted 
a single group, living along the lower course of the Ohio River. 

At some early date they probably moved to the valley of the 
river which bears their tribal name, for the first historical notice 
of the Osages appears to be on Marquette's Autograph map of 
1673, which locates them on the Osage River. They are located 
on the Osage River by all subsequent writers until their re- 
moval westward in the nineteenth century. Geographically 
speaking the tribe consisted of three divisions — the Great 
Osages, the Little Osages, and the Arkansas Band. 

About 1802, according to Lewis and Clark, nearly half of the 
Great Osages, under a chief named "Big Track," migrated to 
the valley of the Arkansas River — thus constituting the Arkan- 
sas Band. The same explorers, In 1804, found the Great Osages, 
numbering about five-hundred warriors, in a village on the 
southern bank of the Osage River; the Little Osages, nearly 
half as numerous, six miles distant, and the Arkansas Band, 
numbering six hundred warriors, on the Vermillion River, a 
branch of the Arkansas. 

On November 10, 1808, by a treaty with the United States, con- 
cluded at Fort Clark, near Kansas City, Missouri, the Osages 
ceded to the United States all their lands east of a line running 
due south from Fort Clark to the Arkansas River, and also all 
of their lands west of the Missouri River — the whole comprising 
the larger part of what is now the state of Missouri and the 
northern part of Arkansas, (see map page 114). The territory 
remaining to them, all of the present state of Oklahoma, north 
of Canadian and Arkansas Rivers, was still further reduced by 
the provisions of treaties at St. Louis, June 2, 1825; Ft. Gibson, 



RD 1 5 di 



The Osage Indians 



113 



93 93 




THE DIFFERENT HOMES OF THE OSAGE INDIANS: 1. IN MIS- 
SOURI; 2. IN ARKANSAS; 3. OSAGE COUNTY OKLAHOMA. 



Indian Territory, January 11, 1839; and Canviile, Kansas, 
September 29, 1865; and the limits of their final reservation 
were established by Act of Congress of July 15, 1870. This 
consisted (1906) of 1,470,058 acres, and in addition the tribe 
possessed funds in the Treasury of the United States amount- 
ing to $8,562,690.00, including a school fund of $119,911.00, the 
whole yielding an annual income of $428,134.00. Their income 
from pasturage leases amounted to $98,376.00 in the same year, 
together with their total annual income, making this tribe the 
richest in the entire United States. The act of June 28, 1906, 
provided for an equal division of the lands and funds of the 
Osages. 



Osage County, Oklahoma, is formed from the territory sold 
to the Osage Indians by treaty with the national government in 
1870. 




&■„ -■& 









ST. AUGUSTINE 
^ Fl A 



